Bernard Lens

Portrait of Sir Thomas Tipping, 2nd Bt (1700-1725)

Auction Closed

July 6, 10:38 AM GMT

Estimate

6,000 - 8,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property of the Marquess of Downshire

Bernard Lens

London 1682 - 1740

Portrait of Sir Thomas Tipping, 2^nd Bt (1700-1725)

Bodycolour on vellum;

signed in gold lower left: Bernard Lens Fecit. Oct: y^e: 20: 1724; emblazoned with the sitter's arms and inscribed on a tablet: S^r Tho. Tipping Baron^t/ Anno: Dom: 1724

475 by 394 mm

By descent to Samuel, 1^st Baron Sandys (1695-1770), the sitter’s brother-in-law; hence by family descent

This elaborate equestrian portrait is a rare example of Bernard Lens - portrait miniature painter to George I and George II - working on a large scale.

The sitter's father, Thomas, served as Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire and, in 1698, was made a baronet by King William III. He lived at Wheatfield Park, near Thame, but by the time of his death in 1718 he was heavily in debt.

The sitter had two sisters, Letitia who married Samuel, 1^st Baron Sandys and Catherine who married Thomas, 1^st Baron Archer. Sir Thomas did not have the chance to marry as he died the year after he sat to this portrait. Upon his death the baronetcy became extinct and the Wheatfield estates were sold.