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Richard Gibson, known as 'Dick' Gibson and 'The Dwarf', sometimes signed his works 'DG'. He was a page at the court of King Charles I and, demonstrating an aptitude for painting, was appointed Picture Maker to the King after the death of Samuel Cooper, in 1672. He surrendered this post to Nicholas Dixon the following year. He was drawing master to the daughters of James II, the Princesses Mary and Anne, who later became Queens of England. He became very close to Mary and accompanied her to Holland on her marriage to William of Orange in 1677 and resided at The Hague. Whilst at the court of King Charles I he attracted the attention of Queen Henrietta Maria who found a wife for him: Anne Shepherd, who was also a dwarf, and they are immortalised in Sir Peter Lely's portrait of them. The association with Lely is well documented and Gibson is known to have copied his works in miniature (G. Reynolds, English Portrait Miniatures, Cambridge, 1988, p. 75). Richard and Anne had five surviving children, one of whom, Susan Penelope Rosse, became a miniature painter (see lot 182). For further information about Richard Gibson, see J. Murdoch, Seventeenth-century English Miniatures, London, 1997, pp. 173-199.
RICHARD GIBSON (BRITISH, 1615-1690)
Details
RICHARD GIBSON (BRITISH, 1615-1690)
A young lady, in off-the-shoulder gold dress over white chemise, pearl necklace, her dark hair in ringlets
on vellum
oval, 2½ in. (65 mm.) high, gilt-metal frame with spiral cresting
A young lady, in off-the-shoulder gold dress over white chemise, pearl necklace, her dark hair in ringlets
on vellum
oval, 2½ in. (65 mm.) high, gilt-metal frame with spiral cresting
Provenance
Sotheby's, London, 30 October 1972, lot 32.
Edward Grosvenor Paine (1911-1989) Collection, New Orleans, La.; (+) Christie's, London, 15 October 1996, lot 4.
With D. S. Lavender (Antiques) Ltd., in 1997 (as Elizabeth, Countess of Essex, daughter of Algernon Percy 10th Earl of Northumberland and wife of Arthur 1st Earl of Essex).
Edward Grosvenor Paine (1911-1989) Collection, New Orleans, La.; (+) Christie's, London, 15 October 1996, lot 4.
With D. S. Lavender (Antiques) Ltd., in 1997 (as Elizabeth, Countess of Essex, daughter of Algernon Percy 10th Earl of Northumberland and wife of Arthur 1st Earl of Essex).
Brought to you by
Katharine Cooke