Circle of Gerrit van Honthorst Portrait of a girl, traditionally identified as Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (1631–1660), three-quarter length, wearing a yellow stomacher and dress with an orange sash, holding an orange, by a draped...

Circle of Gerrit van Honthorst
Portrait of a girl, traditionally identified as Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (1631–1660), three-quarter length, wearing a yellow stomacher and dress with an orange sash, holding an orange, by a draped column in a landscape

oil on canvas
unframed: 117.1 x 92.9 cm.; 46⅛ x 36⅝ in.
framed: 127 x 105.2 cm.; 50 x 41⅜ in.

Condition Report:
The canvas has a heavy lining , the paint surface is relatively clean and the varnish is discoloured. There are two areas of discoloured retouching visible in the sitter's chest and in her yellow stomacher. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals the discoloured varnish which impedes a comprehensive analysis of the painting and reveals a more recent campaign of retouching in the sitter's hair and in two areas of the draped column to the left of the composition and a few scattered spots in the lower left corner. The painting is in overall good condition.

Please note that Condition 12 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) is not applicable to this lot.

Catalogue Note:
This work once formed part of the collection of the Earls of Craven, mainly formed by Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia (1596–1662), also known as 'The Winter Queen'. She amassed a remarkable collection of portraits of her family and friends, and patronized among others, the principal court painters, Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt (1567–1641) and Gerrit van Honthorst (1590–1656). After her death in 1662, most of the pictures passed onto her intimate friend and supporter Sir William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven (1608–1697) at Combe Abbey, where they were kept until sold in these rooms in 1968.1

1 Sotheby's, London, 27 November 1968.

Provenance:
The Earls of Craven, Combe Abbey, Coventry;

Thence by inheritance to Cornelia, Countess of Craven (1877–1961), Combe Abbey, Coventry;

Her posthumous sale, London, Sotheby's, 27 November 1968, lot 89 (as Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate, a portrait of Mary Princess of Orange);

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 26 May 2005, lot 7 (as Anglo-Dutch School, 17th Century, Portrait of a lady).