Lot 20*
After Nicholas Hilliardcirca 1600Portrait of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, bust-length, in armour
Amended
5 July 2023, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £16,640 inc. premium
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Poppy Harvey-Jones
Head of Sale
After Nicholas Hilliard, circa 1600
Portrait of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, bust-length, in armour
bears inscription and date 'George Clifford Earle/ of Cumberland 1588' (centre right)
oil on canvas
73.6 x 61.7cm (29 x 24 5/16in).
bears inscription and date 'George Clifford Earle/ of Cumberland 1588' (centre right)
oil on canvas
73.6 x 61.7cm (29 x 24 5/16in).
Footnotes
The present portrait is a rare, early version of the portrait that is related to the composition of circa 1590 by Nicholas Hilliard, which is a full-length miniature (now in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich; inv. no. MNT0193). An oil version, on panel, in the same bust-length format, is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (inv. no. LP58; acquired some time between 1705 and 1759). The National Gallery in London have a 19th century copy of this same bust-length format (see: Sir R. Strong, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, London, 1969, vol. I, p. 57, ill, vol. II., pl. 103). An equestrian portrait of the sitter in similar costume by Thomas Cockson is also known (British Museum, inv. no. 1849,0135.3), which is inscribed: 'AN EXPLANATION OF THE SVRPRISE OF THE TOWNE OF PVERTO RICO BY THE EARLE OF CUMBERLAND IN ANo 1598 the 15th May', and which was engraved circa 1598-99.
George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland (1558-1605) was a favourite at the court of Elizabeth I. He commanded a ship at the Armada in 1588 and fitted out ten privateering expeditions against Spain and Spanish America between 1586 and 1598, sailing personally with those of 1589, 1591, 1593, and 1598. He is depicted here in tournament fancy dress, probably as the Queen's champion, an office to which he succeeded in 1590. The armour he is wearing in the portrait still survives and is in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Saleroom notices
Please note that the Earl of Cumberland is wearing the same armour and tunic as in the portrait by Nicholas Hilliard, but this is not the same as the suit of armour in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, which also belonged to the sitter.