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Lot Essay
Frances Thynne, the daughter of Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth (d.1714), married Sir Robert Worsley, 4th Bt. (c. 1669-1747). Her father, who became the senior representative of the Thynne family after the murder of his cousin Thomas Thynne in 1648, inherited Longleat, represented Oxford University and later Tamworth in Parliament (1674-9; and 1679-81), and was raised to the peerage in 1682 as Baron Thynne of Warminster and Viscount Weymouth. Her husband Sir Robert Worsley, 4th Bt. (1669-1747) whom she married at Longleat in August 1690, was Member of Parliament for Newport, Isle of Wight. He inherited Appuldercombe House, a large Tudor house on the Isle of Wight, which he replaced with a large and distinguished baroque mansion employing the architect John James (now a shell owned by English Heritage).
William Wissing, who was born in Amsterdam, trained at the Hague and in Paris, before moving to London in 1676, where he became an assistant to Sir Peter Lely. After Lely's death in 1680 he was employed by King James II and also enjoyed aristocratic patronage. Among his most significant patrons was the Earl of Exeter and he died at Burghley House. The particularly fine still life of flowers in this full-length is characteristic of the work of Wissing's assistant John van der Vaart (1653-1727) who specialised in such still lives, as well as landscapes and draperies.
William Wissing, who was born in Amsterdam, trained at the Hague and in Paris, before moving to London in 1676, where he became an assistant to Sir Peter Lely. After Lely's death in 1680 he was employed by King James II and also enjoyed aristocratic patronage. Among his most significant patrons was the Earl of Exeter and he died at Burghley House. The particularly fine still life of flowers in this full-length is characteristic of the work of Wissing's assistant John van der Vaart (1653-1727) who specialised in such still lives, as well as landscapes and draperies.