Lot Essay
The identification of the sitter as Lord Kensington appears erroneous. Lely painted a three-quarter-length portrait of Henry Rich, to be 2nd Lord Kensington (1642-1659) as a young man, circa 1658 (Berkeley Castle). The present portrait of an infant, painted in 1656, is therefore unlikely to show the 2nd Lord Kensington (who would have been fourteen years old at the time) or his father, Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, Baron Rich and Baron Kensington (c.1620-c.1680).