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Lot Essay
The eldest child and only daughter of the celebrated George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628), Mary Villiers became a darling of King James I and of other members of the Royal Family, including the future King Charles I and his sister Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia by her marriage to Frederick V, Elector Palatine. Her beauty was celebrated in verse and prose, while numerous portraits were painted by Sir Anthony van Dyck. A version of this composition was in the Royal Collection at the time of Charles I (a picture in the Gallery at St. James's Palace described as 'Peece of the Dutchesse of Lenox before she was married By Sr Anthony Vandike'), and may be the same picture which has been at Windsor from the time of James II to the present day; measuring 186.7 x 137.2 cm., it may have been reduced from the dimensions reflected in the present work to fit over the fireplace in the King's Privy Chamber.
The present picture may have belonged to Elizabeth of Bohemia and hung in her homes in The Netherlands during her exile, first from Bohemia and then from England during the Commonwealth. During this period Elizabeth and her family formed a fast friendship with William, 1st Earl of Craven, a talented officer and staunch supporter of the Monarchy, whose subsequent loyalty and generosity towards Elizabeth would never fade. Upon her return to England in 1661, when Charles II ungraciously failed to provide her with a residence, Craven invited her to stay in his house in Drury Lane, and set about building houses at Hampstead Marshall and Ashdown for the Queen. Her will left him her papers and collection of Stuart and palatine family portraits, which he installed at Coombe Abbey, the seat of the Earldom, where this picture remained until it was sold in 1984. The 1633 inventory of pictures at Rhenen records what may be another, earlier portrait of Mary Villiers, whom Elizabeth clearly viewed as a dear friend of the Royal Family (see A.A. de Beer, inventory of the furnishings at Rhenen, 1633, MS cited in W.-J. Hoogsteder, 'Die Gemldesammlung von Friedrich V. und Elizabeth im Knigshaus in Rhenen/Niederlande' in P. Wolf et al., eds., Der Winterknig, Friedrich V: Der Letzte Kurfrst aus der Oberen Pfalz, Augsburg, 2003, pp. 135-6, no. R97, as '1. st. Von den Tochter von Duc de Buckingam. Randbemerkung: Unten in saal'.
The present picture may have belonged to Elizabeth of Bohemia and hung in her homes in The Netherlands during her exile, first from Bohemia and then from England during the Commonwealth. During this period Elizabeth and her family formed a fast friendship with William, 1st Earl of Craven, a talented officer and staunch supporter of the Monarchy, whose subsequent loyalty and generosity towards Elizabeth would never fade. Upon her return to England in 1661, when Charles II ungraciously failed to provide her with a residence, Craven invited her to stay in his house in Drury Lane, and set about building houses at Hampstead Marshall and Ashdown for the Queen. Her will left him her papers and collection of Stuart and palatine family portraits, which he installed at Coombe Abbey, the seat of the Earldom, where this picture remained until it was sold in 1984. The 1633 inventory of pictures at Rhenen records what may be another, earlier portrait of Mary Villiers, whom Elizabeth clearly viewed as a dear friend of the Royal Family (see A.A. de Beer, inventory of the furnishings at Rhenen, 1633, MS cited in W.-J. Hoogsteder, 'Die Gemldesammlung von Friedrich V. und Elizabeth im Knigshaus in Rhenen/Niederlande' in P. Wolf et al., eds., Der Winterknig, Friedrich V: Der Letzte Kurfrst aus der Oberen Pfalz, Augsburg, 2003, pp. 135-6, no. R97, as '1. st. Von den Tochter von Duc de Buckingam. Randbemerkung: Unten in saal'.