Early Stuart Portraits Catalogue
William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford (1616-1700), Soldier and Privy Counsellor
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
As William, Lord Russell
1627
Painting by Johann Priwitzer, whole-length standing, wearing Bath ribbon, with his dwarf, signed and dated; Woburn (G. Scharf, Catalogue of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, 1890, no.170; illus. C. H. Collins Baker, Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters, 1912, vol.1, f.p.62; E. K. Waterhouse, The Dictionary of 16th & 17th Century British Painters, 1988, p 220), exhibited Age of Charles I, Tate, 1972, no.28.
c.1635
Painting by Van Dyck, with his brother-in-law George, 2nd Earl of Bristol, whole-length in red, wearing Bath ribbon, right hand on hip; Althorp (Kenneth Garlick, 'A Catalogue of Pictures at Althorp', Walpole Society, vol.45, 1976, no.140; S. J. Barnes, N. De Poorter, O. Millar, H. Vey, Van Dyck, a Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, 2004, iv.92). A much copied composition, latterly including a drawing and enamel by Henry Bone 1820 at Woburn (Richard Walker, 'Henry Bone's Pencil Drawings in the National Portrait Gallery', Walpole Society, vol.61, 1999, no.42) and enamels by Henry Pierce Bone dated 1837 (and 1836 verso; Sotheby’s, 11 July 1991, lot 281), and of Bedford alone 1848 (Bonham’s, 27 April 2005, lot 18).
c.1637
Painting by Van Dyck, three-quarter length seated, wearing the ribbon of the Bath, with his wife Anne; Wilton (S. J. Barnes, N. De Poorter, O. Millar, H. Vey, Van Dyck, a Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, 2004, iv.19). Probably in celebration of his marriage with Lady Anne Carr in 1637.
c.1640
Painting by Van Dyck, half-length, right hand at breast; Clifton Castle (S. J. Barnes, N. De Poorter, O. Millar, H. Vey, Van Dyck, a Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, 2004, iv.20, listing versions at Woburn, Blenheim, and Warwick Castle).
As 5th Earl of Bedford
1675
Painting by Peter Lely, three-quarter length, wearing an Indian gown; Woburn (G. Scharf, Catalogue of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, 1890, no.172a, MS insert in NPG copy). A payment of £31 was made to Lely, by his lordship’s order, in June 1675; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, p 294). Given to the sitter’s son and ‘found again in an auction room in the present [20th] century and placed among the Woburn collection’ (Ibid.).
1676
Painting by Peter Lely, whole-length in Garter robes, left hand on hip, right hand pointing left, inscribed; Woburn (G. Scharf, Catalogue of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, 1890, no.172 as Kneller). Receipt for £60 from Lely for his lordship’s picture at length, May 1676; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, p 295). Lely was then living in a house belonging to the Earl of Bedford in the Great Piazza, Covent Garden.
c.1680
Painting by Johann Kerseboom, whole-length standing in a landscape in military dress, a dog at his side, with troops drawn up for battle in the distance; Hardwick (illus. C. H. Collins Baker, Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters, 1912, vol.2, f.p.50 as Edward, 5th Earl of Bedford).
c.1681
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, half-length painted oval, in armour; Weston Park (J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, no.80). Receipt for £8 from Kneller for ‘his lordship’s picture’, 15 July 1682; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, pp 295-96; J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, p 191).
1686
Painting by Godfrey Kneller; untraced. Receipt for £10 from Kneller for ‘my lord the Earl of Bedford’s picture’, June 1686; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, p 296; J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, p 192).
1692
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, whole-length in Garter robes, right hand on hip, signed and dated; Ombersley Park (J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, no.82, pl.43b). Probably related to the receipt for £40 from Kneller to the Earl of Bedford for ‘his lordship’s picture in length’, January 1693; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, p 296; J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, p 194).
c.1692
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, see NPG 298.
As 1st Duke of Bedford
1698
Pastel by Edward Luttrell, see NPG 1824.
1699
On 16 July 1699 the Duke’s daughter-in-law, Rachel, Lady Russell, wrote of him ‘I could almost be sorry my Lord had sat for his picture, for fear it is a trouble, and makes him weary: also I extremely desire it for my best room as its best ornament’ (to John Thornton; Letters of Lady Russell, 1853, ii, p 156).
c.1701
Marble monument by Francis Bird; Bedford Chapel, Chenies, Bucks (illus. Country Life, vol.172, 1982, p 1143). The head alone sketched by Scharf in 1877 (Sir George Scharf's Sketchbooks 112:26).
In 1890 Scharf (G. Scharf, Catalogue of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, 1890, under no.172) listed an unattributed ‘well painted’ half-length, right hand holding Garter mantle, presented to the Scottish Corporation 1694 (destroyed by fire in 1877), and another ‘in advanced life, wearing armour,’ with Lord Arthur Russell (in a sketchbook of 1875, Sir George Scharf's Sketchbooks 92:74).
This extended catalogue entry is by John Ingamells, one of a limited number of entries drafted in 2010 for the incomplete catalogue, Early Stuart Portraits 1625-1685, and is as written then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.
1627
Painting by Johann Priwitzer, whole-length standing, wearing Bath ribbon, with his dwarf, signed and dated; Woburn (G. Scharf, Catalogue of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, 1890, no.170; illus. C. H. Collins Baker, Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters, 1912, vol.1, f.p.62; E. K. Waterhouse, The Dictionary of 16th & 17th Century British Painters, 1988, p 220), exhibited Age of Charles I, Tate, 1972, no.28.
c.1635
Painting by Van Dyck, with his brother-in-law George, 2nd Earl of Bristol, whole-length in red, wearing Bath ribbon, right hand on hip; Althorp (Kenneth Garlick, 'A Catalogue of Pictures at Althorp', Walpole Society, vol.45, 1976, no.140; S. J. Barnes, N. De Poorter, O. Millar, H. Vey, Van Dyck, a Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, 2004, iv.92). A much copied composition, latterly including a drawing and enamel by Henry Bone 1820 at Woburn (Richard Walker, 'Henry Bone's Pencil Drawings in the National Portrait Gallery', Walpole Society, vol.61, 1999, no.42) and enamels by Henry Pierce Bone dated 1837 (and 1836 verso; Sotheby’s, 11 July 1991, lot 281), and of Bedford alone 1848 (Bonham’s, 27 April 2005, lot 18).
c.1637
Painting by Van Dyck, three-quarter length seated, wearing the ribbon of the Bath, with his wife Anne; Wilton (S. J. Barnes, N. De Poorter, O. Millar, H. Vey, Van Dyck, a Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, 2004, iv.19). Probably in celebration of his marriage with Lady Anne Carr in 1637.
c.1640
Painting by Van Dyck, half-length, right hand at breast; Clifton Castle (S. J. Barnes, N. De Poorter, O. Millar, H. Vey, Van Dyck, a Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, 2004, iv.20, listing versions at Woburn, Blenheim, and Warwick Castle).
As 5th Earl of Bedford
1675
Painting by Peter Lely, three-quarter length, wearing an Indian gown; Woburn (G. Scharf, Catalogue of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, 1890, no.172a, MS insert in NPG copy). A payment of £31 was made to Lely, by his lordship’s order, in June 1675; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, p 294). Given to the sitter’s son and ‘found again in an auction room in the present [20th] century and placed among the Woburn collection’ (Ibid.).
1676
Painting by Peter Lely, whole-length in Garter robes, left hand on hip, right hand pointing left, inscribed; Woburn (G. Scharf, Catalogue of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, 1890, no.172 as Kneller). Receipt for £60 from Lely for his lordship’s picture at length, May 1676; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, p 295). Lely was then living in a house belonging to the Earl of Bedford in the Great Piazza, Covent Garden.
c.1680
Painting by Johann Kerseboom, whole-length standing in a landscape in military dress, a dog at his side, with troops drawn up for battle in the distance; Hardwick (illus. C. H. Collins Baker, Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters, 1912, vol.2, f.p.50 as Edward, 5th Earl of Bedford).
c.1681
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, half-length painted oval, in armour; Weston Park (J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, no.80). Receipt for £8 from Kneller for ‘his lordship’s picture’, 15 July 1682; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, pp 295-96; J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, p 191).
1686
Painting by Godfrey Kneller; untraced. Receipt for £10 from Kneller for ‘my lord the Earl of Bedford’s picture’, June 1686; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, p 296; J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, p 192).
1692
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, whole-length in Garter robes, right hand on hip, signed and dated; Ombersley Park (J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, no.82, pl.43b). Probably related to the receipt for £40 from Kneller to the Earl of Bedford for ‘his lordship’s picture in length’, January 1693; Woburn archive (G. Scott Thompson, Life in a Noble Household, 1937, p 296; J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait, 1983, p 194).
c.1692
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, see NPG 298.
As 1st Duke of Bedford
1698
Pastel by Edward Luttrell, see NPG 1824.
1699
On 16 July 1699 the Duke’s daughter-in-law, Rachel, Lady Russell, wrote of him ‘I could almost be sorry my Lord had sat for his picture, for fear it is a trouble, and makes him weary: also I extremely desire it for my best room as its best ornament’ (to John Thornton; Letters of Lady Russell, 1853, ii, p 156).
c.1701
Marble monument by Francis Bird; Bedford Chapel, Chenies, Bucks (illus. Country Life, vol.172, 1982, p 1143). The head alone sketched by Scharf in 1877 (Sir George Scharf's Sketchbooks 112:26).
In 1890 Scharf (G. Scharf, Catalogue of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, 1890, under no.172) listed an unattributed ‘well painted’ half-length, right hand holding Garter mantle, presented to the Scottish Corporation 1694 (destroyed by fire in 1877), and another ‘in advanced life, wearing armour,’ with Lord Arthur Russell (in a sketchbook of 1875, Sir George Scharf's Sketchbooks 92:74).
This extended catalogue entry is by John Ingamells, one of a limited number of entries drafted in 2010 for the incomplete catalogue, Early Stuart Portraits 1625-1685, and is as written then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.