A painting with Kings Weston interest recently went through auction. On the face of it, a posthumously painted 1700s portrait of Sir Thomas Cromwell, he of “Wolf Hall” notoriety, might not strike you as having a connection, but delving deeper through the archives its importance becomes clearer.
The rather gloomy oil painting was attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller by the auction house, who included detail of an old label attached to reverse which stated “This picture which hangs here at the request of … Russell daughter of the 24th Baron de Clifford was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller for a member of the Southwell family from an engraving of Holbein’s”. It had hung in a manor house in Faversham, Kent, though the label clearly identifies it as having formed part of the family collection of the Barons de Clifford, the descendants of the Southwell family of Kings Weston.
The last of the direct line of the Southwell family was the 21st Baron de Clifford on whose death the Kings Weston estate was sold along with the majority of its contents. This painting is, in fact, described as having been sold at Auction in 1834 for a derisory £14, but must have been re-purchased by the family. Many paintings that remain in the trusteeship of the descendants found their way back into family hands in this way, including a series of portraits by Kneller.
There survive in Kings Weston house today, several other portraits by Kneller, including the full-length portraits of the first Edward Southwell (he who rebuilt the mansion) and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Cromwell. And it’s through this marriage that the painting arrived at Kings Weston in 1703.
Lady Elizabeth was a very wealthy heiress with extensive landholdings in Northern Ireland. Sir Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, was her great x4 grandfather. Through his rise to great fame and power under Henry VIII, and the considerable wealth and titles bestowed upon him, he was considered as the founder of the Cromwell dynasty. It would have been apt that Lady Elizabeth held her family name in high regard, and it’s notable she retained it after her marriage to Edward Southwell on 29th October 1703. Edward, no doubt, considered it an accolade to have such a great name in English history associated with his.
Lady Elizabeth was something of a patron of the arts, or at least to Kneller, with whom she spent huge sums. Her great wealth enabled her to indulge in commissioning works. Earlier in 1703 she’d been in receipt of sixteen paintings from him totalling an extraordinary £415. Fortunately, Kneller’s list of these pictures survives. Four were intended as gifts, two were whole-length portraits of Lady Elizabeth, and several of auspicious ancestors including her father, Vere Essex Cromwell, Earl of Ardglass, and “Ld Essexes picture – whole length” – the picture recently sold.
Lady Elizabeth settled her bill, or most of it, by a £400 bond received by Kneller on 5th June 1703. One of the paintings in this series, one of the full-length portraits of herself, is dated 1701, suggesting that the collection was produced over a several years. The other, “A diana, whole length”, is the portrait of Elizabeth as the goddess of hunting that hangs today in the hall at Kings Weston. Together, these were the two most expensive of her purchases, £50 each, indicating the more direct attention of the artist rather than his workshop. That of Sir Thomas Cromwell was £30, suggesting it was produced with more involvement with artists employed by Kneller in his studio.
Aged 27, marriage came unusually late for the period. Her father had died in 1687 leaving her as an only child and sole heir. Always strong-willed, she appears to have been independent in spirit and unconcerned about making a match unless it was on her terms. It appears likely that the collection of paintings are connected with Lady Elizabeth’s hunt for a husband. By displaying images of herself and her illustrious ancestors she may have been promoting herself as a worthy match for any suitor. However her marriage to Edward Southwell came about, it was more than a one of convenience despite her enormous wealth and the prestige brought to Southwell’s house through the great Cromwell name. On her death in 1708, we know that Edward was bereft and took many years before he sought to fully reengage with society.
Most of the paintings commissioned by Lady Elizabeth can be identified as hanging at Kings Weston throughout the 18th Century. In 1777, we have the portrait of Thomas Cromwell above the fireplace in the eating parlour, todays Canaletto Room. Fittingly, it was matched on the adjacent wall by one of the full-length portraits of its commissioner, Lady Elizabeth.
The same inventory that ties these pictures to this room also explains helpfully that Cromwell’s portrait was “copied from Holland”, rather than from Holbein. This goes some way towards explaining why Kneller’s portrait looks so unlike the famous portrait of the sitter by the Tudor artist (itself a copy, the original now being lost): It was a third-hand impression of the original painting, copied and adapted from a small engraving published by Henry Holland in his Herologia Anglica in 1620.
Despite its historical interest, the painting is far from the best example of a Kneller. Kings Weston still boasts several examples including a portrait of Edward Southwell. Dated 1710, the pose and format suggest that it was commissioned as a partner to the whole-length of his wife Elizabeth after her death. Today, they still hang together, fittingly either side of a portrait of their son, the second Edward Southwell.
