Sir Peter Lely and Studio

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609-1674);

His son, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (1638-1709), Cornbury Park;

His brother Lawrence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester (1641-1711), Cornbury Park;

His son, Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon and 2nd Earl of Rochester (1672-1753), Cornbury Park;

By descent in the collection of Catherine Hyde Douglas, Duchess of Queensbury (1700-1777)[1];

Her husband, Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensbury (1698-1778), Amesbury;

His cousin, William Douglas, Lord Douglas and 4th Duke of Queensbury (1725-1810);

By inheritance to Archibald James Edward Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas (1748-1827);

His daughter, Jane Margaret Douglas Scott-Montagu (1779-1859)[2];

By descent in the collection of Lucy Elizabeth Montagu-Scott Douglas-Home, Countess of Home (1805-1877) and her husband, Alexander Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 11th Earl of Home (1799-1881);

By descent in the collection of Charles Alexander Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of Home (1834-1918);

Sold by the above at Christie’s, London, 20 June 1919, lot 134 (330 gns.)

Bought from the above by Harry Arthurton (1863-1949) (Art Dealer);

Christie’s, London, 18 April 1996, lot 4;

Bought from the above by a private collector, Portugal;

Sold by the above in 2022.

[1] “Many of the Portraits come from the famous “Clarendon Gallery of Portraits”, through Lady Catherine Hyde, daughter of Henry, Earl of Clarendon, and wife of Charles, Third Duke of Queensberry. She took up energetically the great “Douglas Cause”, and although there was no relationship, she persuaded her husband to leave to Mr. Douglas, afterwards Lord Douglas, the estate of Amesbury, and her share of the Clarendon Gallery of Portraits”. [Auction Catalogue] Catalogue of Historical Portraits the Property of the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Home Removed from Douglas Castle, Bothwell Castle and The Hirsel […] Christie, Manson & Woods, 8 King Street, St James’s Square, London, 20 June 1919 (p. 16). It is uncertain when exactly the Duchess of Queensberry’s collection was relocated to Scotland. In 1788 the Queensberry Collection was still at Amesbury (See Picturesque Views Of The Principal Seats Of The Nobility And Gentry, In England And Wales. By The Most Eminent British Artists. With A Description Of Each Seat, p. 3).

[2] In Scottish Tourist; being a Guide to the Picturesque Scenery and Antiquities of Scotland (1850), there is a brief description of the Douglas-Home Collection at Bothwell House. Ten portraits by Sir Peter Lely, including one of Nell Gwynn, are recorded hanging in the breakfast and dining rooms (p. 108).