The Family Collection of the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma
The Family Collection of the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma
Gilbert Jackson
Portrait of Sir Norton Knatchbull Bt. (1569-1636), and his wife Mary Westrow, née Aldersey (d. 1674)
Auction Closed
March 24, 08:41 PM GMT
Estimate
50,000 - 80,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Gilbert Jackson
British fl. 1622 - 1640
Portrait of Sir Norton Knatchbull Bt. (1569-1636), and his wife Mary Westrow, née Aldersey (d. 1674)
dated, centre: Anno. 1629; and inscribed upper left and right: Ætatis.60. / Ætatis.40.;
later inscribed, centre: Sr: Norton Knatchbull Kt. / obt.1636. / The Widow Westrow / his 3d Wife.; and inscribed below: Arctius corda
oil on canvas, in a fine frame with a split pediment
94.1 x 131.1 cm.
Catalogue of Portraits, 1920, no. 62.
H. Avray Tipping, ‘Mersham le Hatch’, Country Life, 8 August 1925, photographed in the drawing room, p. 220;
H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, Late Georgian, 1760-1820, London 1926, p. 132;
C. Hussey, English Country Houses, Mid Georgian 1760-1800, London 1984, p. 104.
Sir Norton Knatchbull was the third son of Richard Knatchbull and his wife Susan Greene (see lot 107). He was educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge, and entered the Middle Temple in 1588. In 1593 he unexpectedly inherited the family estates, and set about improving their value by draining land in Romney Marsh. He was knighted in 1604, and was returned as M.P. for Hythe in 1609, the first member of his family to enter parliament. He was married three times: firstly to Anne Wentworth, daughter of the Puritan Paul Wentworth; secondly to Bridget, daughter of John Astley of Maidstone, Master of the Royal Jewel House and a cousin of Anne Boleyn (see lot 108); and thirdly to Mary, daughter of John Aldersey of Spurstow, Cheshire and Bergen Hall, Essex.
This fine portrait, painted in 1629, shows him with his third wife, widow of the City Alderman Thomas Westrow. The Latin inscription on the portrait ‘Arctius corda’ is translated as ‘tighter hearts’. Following Sir Norton’s death in 1636, the family estates passed to his nephew. After her husband’s death Mary married Edward Scott of Scot's Hall, M.P. for Kent (1626) and Hythe (1628).
A related full-length portrait of Sir Norton hangs at Breamore House.1