Adriaen Hanneman

By family descent.

J. Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 2 vols, Cardiff 1957, vol. I, p. 163, cat. no. 5.  

The picture is in good overall condition, with no apparent extant damage or loss of paint. The canvas has a firm old relining, and appears to have been framed as an oval in the past. There is consequently some retouching to the corners of the canvas, probably to old frame abrasion. This retouching appears to be old, as it does not fluoresce under ultraviolet light, and there is some very minor frame abrasion to the edge of the canvas, along the lower edge. The figure, however, is finely preserved and appears to be in very good, largely untouched condition. Further examination under UV reveals a very discoloured and opaque old varnish overall, as well as some minor flecks of old retouching in the background to craquelure. There are a small number of further very minor retouchings in the collar, but otherwise the body and head appear to be extremely well preserved. The picture would therefore appear to be in good, well preserved overall condition. Held in a carved and gilded English Baroque frame. To speak to a specialist about this lot please contact Julian Gascoigne on +44 (0)2-7 293 5482, or at julian.gascoigne@sothebys.com.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Born in The Hague, Hanneman trained under the portrait painters Anthony van Ravesteyn (1580-1669) and his brother Jan (1572-1657). Following the example of many other Dutch and Flemish artists he came to London circa 1626 in search of the rich patronage to be found at the hands of the English nobility and the Caroline court, and in 1630 he married an English girl, Elizabeth Wilson. The heavy influence of Van Dyck on his work from this period, which is so evident in this engaging portrait, suggests that he was probably involved in that master's studio in Blackfriars. Hanneman remained in England for over a decade. His name appears in the Lord Mayor’s survey of foreigners resident in London in 1635, living in Holborn, and he only returned to The Hague between 1638 and 1640, just before the outbreak of the Civil War. Despite his extended stay very few of Hanneman’s English portraits survive, and this picture is a rare and exceptional example of his work from this period.

On his return to Holland Hanneman’s elegant and accomplished style, which he had learned in England, proved immensely popular among Dutch patrons, and his success did much to spread the influence of Van Dyck’s style throughout the Netherlands. In 1640 he was elected to the painters’ guild in The Hague and married his second wife, Maria, the daughter of Jan van Ravesteyn. From the late 1640s onwards Hanneman’s English connections proved particularly useful as increasing numbers of dispossessed and exiled Royalists began to settle in the Netherlands after the establishment of the Commonwealth in England. He painted many of the key Royalist figures, including Charles, Prince of Wales, later King Charles II (now lost), his brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester (National Gallery of Art, Washington) and Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (Private Collection). These portraits retain much of the influence of Van Dyck, but have a distinctive character of their own and display a masterful characterisation that is evident in all of the artist’s best work. Hanneman also found favour at the Dutch court in the 1650s and painted many portraits of the Royal Family, including William of Orange, later the Stadholder King and William III of England (1650-1702), when a child holding an orange with a small dog (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).

The sitter in this portrait is unrecorded; however given the date of the painting and its provenance by family descent it is most likely that it depicts the cavalier officer Robert Davies. Depicted standing quarter on, half length, his body facing to the right with his gaze directed confidently at the viewer, the sitter wears a buff coloured doublet with crimson sleeves, embroidered with gold, and an wide embroidered baldrick, or sword belt. His dress is typical of that worn by English cavaliers in the 1630s and 1640s. A gentleman and soldier, Davies was born at Gwysaney in Flintshire, the son of Robert Davies (1581-1633) and his wife Anne, daughter of John Haynes, Receiver of the Queen’s Revenues in Wales to Elizabeth I. In 1631 he married Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Peter Mutton, one of the most eminent Welsh lawyers of the seventeenth-century. A staunch Royalist he garrisoned his house at Gwysaney during the Civil War, and in 1645 was besieged there by Parliamentarian forces under the command of Sir William Brereton. Imprisoned in Chester Castle in 1658, he was later released by order of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, and served as High Sheriff for Flintshire in 1644-6 and 1660. However Davies remained loyal to the Crown, and at the Restoration he was selected to become a Knight of the Royal Oak. Alternatively, the sitter could possibly be his son, Mutton Davies (1634-1684), who was also a soldier and fought in the Low Countries, where he could have sat to Hanneman in The Hague, as well as travelling in France and Italy. It was Mutton Davies who, in the 1660s, established the famous gardens at Llannerch Park, which he had inherited from his mother, after designs which he had seen whilst travelling on the Continent, thus creating one of the earliest Italianate Baroque gardens in Britain (see lot 37 in the Evening Sale).