Portrait of a Lady
Nicholas Hilliard
(English, about 1547–1619)
Nicholas Hilliard
(English, about 1547–1619)
about 1590–95
Medium/TechniqueWatercolor and bodycolor on vellum
Dimensions5 x 4.3 cm (2 x 1 3/4 in.)
Framed: 5.6 x 4.8 cm (2 3/16 x 1 7/8 in.)
Framed: 5.6 x 4.8 cm (2 3/16 x 1 7/8 in.)
Credit LineBequest of Nathaniel T. Kidder
Accession number38.1408
On View
Not on viewClassificationsMiniatures
Collections
ProvenanceSpencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (b. about 1674 - d. 1743), London [see note 1]. Horace Walpole (b. 1717 - d. 1797), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, London; May 10, 1842, Strawberry Hill sale, Robins, London, lot 18 [see note 2]. Hollingworth Magniac (b. 1786 - d. 1867), Colworth House, Bedfordshire; by descent to his son, Charles Magniac (b. 1827 - d. 1891), London; July 4, 1892, posthumous Magniac sale, Christie's, London, lot 188, to Davis for £73.10. Until 1938, Nathaniel Thayer Kidder (b. 1860 - d. 1938), Boston; 1938, bequest of Nathaniel T. Kidder to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 13, 1938)
NOTES:
[1] According to the Strawberry Hill auction catalogue of 1842. Spencer Compton preceded Robert Walpole, Horace Walpole's father, as Prime Minister.
[2] Two miniatures have been identified with lot 18 in the Strawberry Hill sale of 1842 (described as a portrait of Lady Arabella Stuart by Nicholas Hilliard, from the collection of Lord Wilmington). One is that at the MFA; on the reverse of this miniature is an old ink inscription: "14-18 / Strawberry Hill / May 1842 under / Horace Walp[ole] exor... / The Lady Arabella / by / Hillyard". The other miniature was in the possession of J. Pierpont Morgan in 1906, having come from the Hamilton Palace and C. H. T. Hawkins collections (see G. C. Williamson, Catalogue of the Collection of Miniatures, the Property of J. Pierpont Morgan [London, 1906], vol. 1, pp. 33-34, no. 26). Which of the two miniatures was actually lot 18 in the sale cannot be securely determined, although the MFA work seems more likely, because of the inscription on its reverse.
The source of confusion may be that lot numbers 18 (Lady Arabella Stuart) and 19 (Queen Elizabeth), included in the 14th day of the Strawberry Hill auction, were both attributed to Hilliard and came from the collection of Lord Wilmington. According to notes in the curatorial file, it is possible that lot 19 in the sale was mistaken for lot 18 by its subsequent owner, and erroneously described as a portrait of Lady Arabella.
NOTES:
[1] According to the Strawberry Hill auction catalogue of 1842. Spencer Compton preceded Robert Walpole, Horace Walpole's father, as Prime Minister.
[2] Two miniatures have been identified with lot 18 in the Strawberry Hill sale of 1842 (described as a portrait of Lady Arabella Stuart by Nicholas Hilliard, from the collection of Lord Wilmington). One is that at the MFA; on the reverse of this miniature is an old ink inscription: "14-18 / Strawberry Hill / May 1842 under / Horace Walp[ole] exor... / The Lady Arabella / by / Hillyard". The other miniature was in the possession of J. Pierpont Morgan in 1906, having come from the Hamilton Palace and C. H. T. Hawkins collections (see G. C. Williamson, Catalogue of the Collection of Miniatures, the Property of J. Pierpont Morgan [London, 1906], vol. 1, pp. 33-34, no. 26). Which of the two miniatures was actually lot 18 in the sale cannot be securely determined, although the MFA work seems more likely, because of the inscription on its reverse.
The source of confusion may be that lot numbers 18 (Lady Arabella Stuart) and 19 (Queen Elizabeth), included in the 14th day of the Strawberry Hill auction, were both attributed to Hilliard and came from the collection of Lord Wilmington. According to notes in the curatorial file, it is possible that lot 19 in the sale was mistaken for lot 18 by its subsequent owner, and erroneously described as a portrait of Lady Arabella.
Henry Gerhard Fette