The Lenthall pictures were a number of paintings owned by the Lenthall family and housed at

Burford Priory Burford Priory is a Grade I listed country house and former priory at Burford in West Oxfordshire, England owned by Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert Murdoch, together with Matthew Freud. History Origin The house is on the site of a 13th-ce ...

. The collection was publicly commented on by art historians and tourists. It was largely dispersed in two sales in 1808 and 1833, although some works were retained by the family and sold in the late 20th century.

The history of the collection

Many of the works were acquired by Speaker Lenthall after he purchased

in 1637. However, the portraits of the Tanfields is evidence that some of the paintings may have been at Burford when it was purchased from

Viscount Falkland Viscount Falkland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. Referring to the royal burgh of Falkland in Fife, it was created in 1620, by King James VI, for Sir Henry Cary, who was born in Hertfordshire and had no previous connection to Scotland. ...

. Lenthall was one of the overseers of Sir

Lawrence Tanfield Sir Lawrence Tanfield (c. 1551 – 30 April 1625) was an English lawyer, politician and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. He had a reputation for corruption, and the harshness which he and his wife showed to his tenants was remembered for c ...

's will and had married into the family of his second wife. Some of the paintings may have been owned by Charles I and sold after his execution – a rumour to this effect was mentioned by

Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, diplomat, historian, biographer, diarist, novelist, lecturer, journalist, broadcaster, and gardener. His wife was the writer Vita Sackville-West. Early lif ...

. At least two portraits (including William Lenthall, grandson of Speaker Lenthall) were painted after Speaker Lenthall's death. By 1682, the collection contained 145 pictures. The collection was commented on by the art historian

George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...

and also by

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

who offered the opinion that the portraits were "rubbish, but celebrated". The Georgian tourist, John Loveday, visited Burford to see the collection on 2 April 1736. He wrote down a detailed description of the More family painting and mentioned a number of others in the collection. Two of the religious paintings in the collection, along with the portrait of

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

and his family and a number of other portraits were mentioned in ''Gentleman's Magazine'' in 1799. The collection was moved to

Besselsleigh Besselsleigh or Bessels Leigh is an English village and civil parish about southwest of Oxford. Besselsleigh was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is just off the A420 road between O ...

(another Lenthall family home) in 1808 when Burford was renovated, but it was largely dispersed in two sales in 1808 and 1833.''The Lenthall Pictures'', Nicholas Cooper, Victoria County History
The date of the second sale is given as 1831, an error for the correct date, 1833

Identifying portraits that were part of the collection

Around 1700, inscriptions were added to a number of the portraits in the collection. These inscriptions purported to identify the sitter, although the identification is unreliable. The added inscription was typically in ochre, golden or yellow serifed capitals in the bottom left. Although this positioning, colour and style of inscription is not unique, it does serve to suggest a portrait may have been in the collection when attribution and title have changed.

Some works in the collection

There is an inventory of more than 60 works at Burford (mainly portraits) in the collection in the Oxfordshire Record Office. This was prepared by "Mr Lenthall" and recorded by Thomas Symonds in 1827. The 1833 sale contained 73 lots, the majority of which were portraits. There were nineteen classical or religious subjects and a couple of landscapes and still lifes. The full catalogue can be found o
Google Books
and there is a transcript with prices on the Getty Provenance Database which also has a partial catalogue of the 1808 sale. Among the portraits were: *''William Lenthall''; Speaker of the House of Commons. John Loveday mentions three portraits of Speaker Lenthall ("in his robes, but drawn in different times of life"). A portrait of Lenthall from Burford was acquired by the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

in 1857, having previously been at Burford. The artist is unknown. A portrait of Speaker Lenthall and his family, attributed to

Edward Bower Edward Bower ( fl. 1635 – 1667)Portraits by Edward Bower
( Samuel King; sitter identified by inscription. Sold at Sotheby's London, 28 May 1998 and again on 5 June 2008. No portrait by King is mentioned in the 1833 catalogue, but there were portraits said to be by Lely and Mireveldt. The provenance given in the 2008 sale was "by descent in the Lenthall family, so this work may not have been included in the 1833 sale." *''Portrait of a Woman, Traditionally Identified as the Countess of Arundel'' by Cornelius Johnson, signed and dated 1619 It was sold in 1833 and was subsequently part of the Northwick Park collection. It is now in the

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

. *''Charles I'' by Mytens This was subsequently part of the Northwick Park collection and was sold to "Sabin" in the sale on 25 June 1965.Sale catalogue and price list *''Prince Henry'' by Mytens This was also subsequently part of the Northwick Park collection and was sold to "Johnson" in the sale on 25 June 1965. *''Henrietta Maria'' by

van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

*'' Chief Justice Tanfield''; There is a published copy of this portrait.; This is among the portraits mentioned by John Loveday. *''Lady Tanfield'' by Mark GarrardGentleman's Magazine, July 1833
/ref> (Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger) This is also among the portraits mentioned by John Loveday. *'' Sir Alexander Temple'' by Cornelius Johnson, signed and dated 1620. It has an erroneous inscription identifying the sitter as "Ld Gust Hamilton". Vertue mentions a portrait of Lord Hamilton when he visited Burford in 1729. This may be the portrait he was referring to. Along with the Countess of Arundel and the Countess of Portland, this portrait was subsequently part of the Northwick Park collection and it is now in the Yale Center for British Art. *''

Sir Thomas More and Family ''Sir Thomas More and Family'' is a lost painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, painted circa 1527 and known from a number of surviving copies. The original was destroyed in 1752 in a fire at Schloss Kremsier ( Kroměříž Castle), the Morav ...

''. This was a copy by

Rowland Lockey Rowland Lockey (c. 1565–1616) was an English painter and goldsmith, and was the son of Leonard Lockey,Lewis, p. 8-9 a crossbow maker of the parish of St Bride's, Fleet Street, London. Lockey was apprenticed to Queen Elizabeth's miniaturist ...

of a lost original by Holbein. It is dated 1593; Holbein died in 1554. The painting had been at Gubbins in Hertfordshire and how it came into the possession of the Lenthalls is not known, although it may have been borrowed from the More family and never returned.

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the ''Brief Lives'', his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist, ...

and Anthony Wood viewed it at the Besselsleigh home of Sir John Lenthall in the 17th century, but by 1727 it was at Burford. It was discussed in detail by John Loveday who saw it in 1736. The painting was unsold in the 1808 sale but was offered again and sold in 1833. It was subsequently owned by Walter Strickland, CW Dormer, Sir Hugh Lane, Lord Lee, and EJ Horniman whose widow bequeathed it to the National Portrait Gallery where it remains. It was the centre piece in the exhibition, ''The King's Good Servant'', at the National Portrait Gallery in 1977. *''Oliver Cromwell''The English Counties Delineated, Volume 2, Thomas Moule, 1837
/ref> *''Sir Kenelm Digby'' *''The Earl of Pembroke'' as Lord Chamberlain. Loveday says this was by Cornelius Johnson and identifies him as William, Earl of Pembroke. *''The Earl of Holland'' *''The Countess of Portland'' signed by Cornelius Johnson and dated 1622. The sitter is identified by an inscription in block letters. Finberg says that the subject is Frances Stuart, later Countess of Portland. Richard Weston did not become Earl of Portland until 1633. *''Sir Philip Sydney'' by JohnsonLenthall Collection Sale Catalogue, 1833 *''Lady Temple'' by Mytens *''Elizabeth Finch, Countess of Winchelsea'' by

Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger Marcus Gheeraerts (also written as Gerards or Geerards; 1561/62 – 19 January 1636) was a Flemish artist working at the Tudor court, described as "the most important artist of quality to work in England in large-scale between Eworth and van ...

(1600); sold in 1808 as being by Johnson; exhibited at the Dynasties exhibition in 1995. *''The Earl of Abercorn'' by

Sir Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to English and British monarchs from ...

. Loveday says the Earl was a relation of the Lenthalls by marriage. *''Duke of Florence & Machiavel his Secretary''. Loveday says this was a copy of a painting of the Earl of Chesterfield in

Bretby Hall Bretby Hall is a country house at Bretby, Derbyshire, England, north of Swadlincote and east of Burton upon Trent on the border with Staffordshire. It is a Grade II listed building. The name ''Bretby'' means "dwelling place of Britons". Histor ...

. At Burford, it hung close to the More family portrait. *''Henry Ireton'' by Walker. Bought by the National Portrait Gallery in 1858. It has an inscription saying General Ireton, but is now described as an unknown man by an unknown artist. *'' Elizabeth Tanfield, Countess Falkland'' by

Paul van Somer Paul van Somer (c. 1577 – 1621), also known as Paulus van Somer, was a Flemish artist who arrived in England from Antwerp during the reign of King James I of England and became one of the leading painters of the royal court. He painted a nu ...

; this (or perhaps a copy) was subsequently owned by Lord Falkland and apparently now in the collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston, Texas. It was exhibited at the Nave Museum in Victoria, Texas in 2003. *''

Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (12 July 162813 January 1684) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the second son of Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, and Lady Elizabeth Stuart. He succeeded his brother Thomas Howard, 5th Duke of ...

'' by

Gerard Soest Gerard Soest (circa 1600 – 11 February 1681), also known as Gerald Soest, was a portrait painter who was active in England during the late 17th century. He is most famous for his portraits of William Shakespeare and Samuel Butler, but painted ma ...

; sold in the 1833 sale to George, 3rd Lord Northwick.Tate catalogue entry
/ref> Acquired by

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

in 1965 (but not currently displayed).

Some pictures from the collection

File:William Lenthall from NPG.jpg, William Lenthall (Speaker Lenthall) in his ceremonial robes; artist unknown File:Cornelius Johnson - Portrait of a Woman, Traditionally Identified as the Countess of Arundel - Google Art Project.jpg, Inscribed ''Countess of Arundel'' by Cornelius Johnson, 1619 File:Lawrence Tanfield.jpg, A published illustration of the portrait of Lawrence Tanfield; artist unknown File:Lady Tanfield.jpg, A published illustration of the portrait of Lady Tanfield; by Mark Garrard (

) File:Cornelius Johnson - Sir Alexander Temple - Google Art Project.jpg, Erroneously inscribed Ld Gust Hamilton, but known to be Sir Alexander Temple; by Cornelius Johnson, 1620 File:Sir Thomas More, his father, his household and his descendants by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg, Sir Thomas More and his family; a copy of a lost original by Hans Holbein File:Elizabeth Heneage.jpg, Elizabeth Finch, Countess of Winchelsea, by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 1600 (although attributed to Cornelius Johnson while in the Lenthall collection). File:ElizabethCary.jpg, Elizabeth Tanfield, Viscountess Falkland, a print of an original that was attributed to van Somer. This (or a copy) was in the Lenthall collection. File:6thDukeOfNorfolk.jpg, Portrait of Henry Howard by Gilbert Soest, c. 1670-1675

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em English paintings Private art collections