Later Stuart Portraits Catalogue
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751), Politician; MP for Wootton Bassett and Berkshire; government official and political philosopher
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
c.1694
Unattributed miniature, half-length oval, part of a triptych in the church of St Mary, Lydiard Tregoze (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.1; illus. H. T. Dickinson, Bolingbroke, 1970, f.p.16).
c.1710
Miniature by Christian Richter, half-length oval. Madresfield Hall (W. Nisser, Michael Dahl, 1927, p 166, cat. p 135, no.2, pl.lviii/2). Exhibited British Portraits, RA, 1956, no.239.
c.1712-14
Unattributed painting, see NPG 593.
1714
Painting by Thomas Murray, long wig, wearing private dress, engraved as bust-length oval G. White (J. Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits, 7); in the inscription the word ‘late’ has evidently been added before Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, indicating a date of 1712-15, and a later version of the print by Parr c.1754 has Murray pinx. 1714 (front. to Life and History of … Lord Visc. Bolingbroke, 1754; F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.4vii).
1715
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, three-quarter-length standing in viscount’s parliamentary robes, his coronet beside him, signed and dated. Petworth (cat. 1920, p 68, no.483; J. D. Stewart, Godfrey Kneller, 1983, no.100), doubtless painted for Bolingbroke’s close friend Sir William Wyndham. Engraved G. White 1715. A copy in Battersea Town Hall.
by 1715
Unattributed painting, three-quarter-length standing in viscount’s parliamentary robes, his coronet beside him (superficially resembling the 1715 Kneller, with the hands differently placed), a classical portico behind. Sotheby’s, 15 July 1998, lot 34 as by Charles D’Agar, by descent from the sitter’s niece, Lady Bagot. Exhibited Second Special Exhibition of National Portraits ( ... William and Mary to MDCCC), South Kensington, 1867, no.109. A version from D. Minlore was presented to Lydiard Tregoze House 1959 (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.6a). There is a small ink and wash copy by T. Athow (‘from an original picture at Blithfield, Staffs.’) in the Ashmolean Museum (Sutherland Collection, Burnet II, 611).
1730-32
Marble bust by J. M. Rysbrack all’antica. Petworth, probably given by the sitter to his close friend Sir William Wyndham. A replica at Lydiard Tregoze House dated 1737 (illus. M. I. Webb, Michael Rysbrack, 1954, p 178), exhibited Michael Rysbrack, Bristol, 1982, no.50. A plaster at Cirencester (M. I. Webb, Country Life, CXIX, 1956, pp 1131-32). See G. Vertue, Notebooks, Wal. Soc., XXII, 1934, p 56; J. Kenworthy-Browne in National Trust Studies 1980, p 71.
In 1738 Roubiliac had supplied Lord Marchmont with a plaster from a bust of Bolingbroke (D. Bindman & M. Baker, Roubiliac and the eighteenth-century Monument, 1995, p 347).
c.1730-35
Painting attributed to Richardson, half-length in private dress, inscribed Henry Sr John Vict: Bolingbroke & Baron of Lydiard Tregoz Son to Henry Ld. Visct:St.John. Lydiard Tregoze House (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.13; illus. J. Kenworthy-Browne in National Trust Studies 1980, p 70).
c.1735?
Unattributed painting, half-length in private dress, inscribed Ld.Bolingbroke. Government Art Collection (7398; illus. The Public Catalogue Foundation, Government Art Collection, 2007, p 157 as Jervas), from the Lord Lucan sale, Sotheby’s, 21 October 1964, lot 2 (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.14).
1738
Painting by Jonathan Richardson, half-length, short white hair, wearing a white shirt and reddish drape, inscribed and dated, verso. Christie’s, 1 May 1925, lot 69, from Cobham Hall (Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 63:113, 86:27).
Drawing by Jonathan Richardson, bust-length with wig (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.11i). Tracing by G. P. Harding inscribed … Bolingbroke/from the original Drawing by J. Richardson 1738 in the Collection at Strawberry Hill (British Museum, n.n.; F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.11i). Lithograph by Harding 1820, the NPG example inscribed: only six printed, see NPG 5598. F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977 (nos. 11iii, 11iv) records two watercolour versions in the Lewis-Walpole Library, Farmington CT.
c.1738
Painting attributed to Jonathan Richardson, see NPG 1493.
Painting by Jonathan Richardson, see NPG 5598.
1738?
Etching by J. Richardson (F. O’Donoghue & H. M. Hake, Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits in the … British Museum, 4), medallion, all’antica, inscribed H.S.L.B./NIL ADMIRARI. Example in NPG (D31687) bears added inscribed date 1753 and a recent inscription 1738 (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.12; front. for his Letters to Sir W. Wyndham 1753). Comparable with the medallion on Roubiliac’s 1753 monument.
1740
Paste medallion, profile all’antica. Sotheby’s, 2 June 1975, lot 150. A plaster in Scottish NPG (PG 373). Not modelled by Tassie (J. M. Gray, James and William Tassie, 1894, no.42).
c.1740-45
Miniature by an unknown artist, see NPG 3067.
Posthumous
1753
Medallion portrait by L.-F. Roubiliac, on his monument, short hair, open coat. St Mary’s, Battersea (D. Bindman & M. Baker, Roubiliac and the eighteenth-century Monument, 1995, pp 179-80, 347-48, no.28, illus.). An old, thin, wizened face.
c.1753
Unattributed etching, medallion all’antica, inscribed: By Strangers honour’d by his Country mourn’d/More real Joy Marcellus exil’d feels/Than Caesar with a Senate at his heels (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.12vii; illus. M. Mack, Pope, 1985, p 751). Compared with the medallions cited above, this shows a more receding chin.
1760
Engraved gem by Christopher Seaton, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1760, no.90 (‘Head of the late Henry St.John, Viscount Bolingbroke’).
History
pre-1715?
Painting by John Wootton, Viscount Bolingbroke’s hunting party, sold Christie’s, 26 May 2000, lot 8.
Doubtful Portrait
An enamel by C. F. Zincke of c.1740-45, half-length oval, in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (ll 3345; Cat., 1983, p 86, from the Whitehead collection) does not compare convincingly with NPG 3067.
This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, and is as published 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.
Unattributed miniature, half-length oval, part of a triptych in the church of St Mary, Lydiard Tregoze (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.1; illus. H. T. Dickinson, Bolingbroke, 1970, f.p.16).
c.1710
Miniature by Christian Richter, half-length oval. Madresfield Hall (W. Nisser, Michael Dahl, 1927, p 166, cat. p 135, no.2, pl.lviii/2). Exhibited British Portraits, RA, 1956, no.239.
c.1712-14
Unattributed painting, see NPG 593.
1714
Painting by Thomas Murray, long wig, wearing private dress, engraved as bust-length oval G. White (J. Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits, 7); in the inscription the word ‘late’ has evidently been added before Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, indicating a date of 1712-15, and a later version of the print by Parr c.1754 has Murray pinx. 1714 (front. to Life and History of … Lord Visc. Bolingbroke, 1754; F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.4vii).
1715
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, three-quarter-length standing in viscount’s parliamentary robes, his coronet beside him, signed and dated. Petworth (cat. 1920, p 68, no.483; J. D. Stewart, Godfrey Kneller, 1983, no.100), doubtless painted for Bolingbroke’s close friend Sir William Wyndham. Engraved G. White 1715. A copy in Battersea Town Hall.
by 1715
Unattributed painting, three-quarter-length standing in viscount’s parliamentary robes, his coronet beside him (superficially resembling the 1715 Kneller, with the hands differently placed), a classical portico behind. Sotheby’s, 15 July 1998, lot 34 as by Charles D’Agar, by descent from the sitter’s niece, Lady Bagot. Exhibited Second Special Exhibition of National Portraits ( ... William and Mary to MDCCC), South Kensington, 1867, no.109. A version from D. Minlore was presented to Lydiard Tregoze House 1959 (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.6a). There is a small ink and wash copy by T. Athow (‘from an original picture at Blithfield, Staffs.’) in the Ashmolean Museum (Sutherland Collection, Burnet II, 611).
1730-32
Marble bust by J. M. Rysbrack all’antica. Petworth, probably given by the sitter to his close friend Sir William Wyndham. A replica at Lydiard Tregoze House dated 1737 (illus. M. I. Webb, Michael Rysbrack, 1954, p 178), exhibited Michael Rysbrack, Bristol, 1982, no.50. A plaster at Cirencester (M. I. Webb, Country Life, CXIX, 1956, pp 1131-32). See G. Vertue, Notebooks, Wal. Soc., XXII, 1934, p 56; J. Kenworthy-Browne in National Trust Studies 1980, p 71.
In 1738 Roubiliac had supplied Lord Marchmont with a plaster from a bust of Bolingbroke (D. Bindman & M. Baker, Roubiliac and the eighteenth-century Monument, 1995, p 347).
c.1730-35
Painting attributed to Richardson, half-length in private dress, inscribed Henry Sr John Vict: Bolingbroke & Baron of Lydiard Tregoz Son to Henry Ld. Visct:St.John. Lydiard Tregoze House (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.13; illus. J. Kenworthy-Browne in National Trust Studies 1980, p 70).
c.1735?
Unattributed painting, half-length in private dress, inscribed Ld.Bolingbroke. Government Art Collection (7398; illus. The Public Catalogue Foundation, Government Art Collection, 2007, p 157 as Jervas), from the Lord Lucan sale, Sotheby’s, 21 October 1964, lot 2 (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.14).
1738
Painting by Jonathan Richardson, half-length, short white hair, wearing a white shirt and reddish drape, inscribed and dated, verso. Christie’s, 1 May 1925, lot 69, from Cobham Hall (Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 63:113, 86:27).
Drawing by Jonathan Richardson, bust-length with wig (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.11i). Tracing by G. P. Harding inscribed … Bolingbroke/from the original Drawing by J. Richardson 1738 in the Collection at Strawberry Hill (British Museum, n.n.; F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.11i). Lithograph by Harding 1820, the NPG example inscribed: only six printed, see NPG 5598. F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977 (nos. 11iii, 11iv) records two watercolour versions in the Lewis-Walpole Library, Farmington CT.
c.1738
Painting attributed to Jonathan Richardson, see NPG 1493.
Painting by Jonathan Richardson, see NPG 5598.
1738?
Etching by J. Richardson (F. O’Donoghue & H. M. Hake, Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits in the … British Museum, 4), medallion, all’antica, inscribed H.S.L.B./NIL ADMIRARI. Example in NPG (D31687) bears added inscribed date 1753 and a recent inscription 1738 (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.12; front. for his Letters to Sir W. Wyndham 1753). Comparable with the medallion on Roubiliac’s 1753 monument.
1740
Paste medallion, profile all’antica. Sotheby’s, 2 June 1975, lot 150. A plaster in Scottish NPG (PG 373). Not modelled by Tassie (J. M. Gray, James and William Tassie, 1894, no.42).
c.1740-45
Miniature by an unknown artist, see NPG 3067.
Posthumous
1753
Medallion portrait by L.-F. Roubiliac, on his monument, short hair, open coat. St Mary’s, Battersea (D. Bindman & M. Baker, Roubiliac and the eighteenth-century Monument, 1995, pp 179-80, 347-48, no.28, illus.). An old, thin, wizened face.
c.1753
Unattributed etching, medallion all’antica, inscribed: By Strangers honour’d by his Country mourn’d/More real Joy Marcellus exil’d feels/Than Caesar with a Senate at his heels (F. T. Smallwood, ‘The Iconography of Bolingbroke’, Report no.10 of the Friends of Lydiard Tregoze, 1977, no.12vii; illus. M. Mack, Pope, 1985, p 751). Compared with the medallions cited above, this shows a more receding chin.
1760
Engraved gem by Christopher Seaton, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1760, no.90 (‘Head of the late Henry St.John, Viscount Bolingbroke’).
History
pre-1715?
Painting by John Wootton, Viscount Bolingbroke’s hunting party, sold Christie’s, 26 May 2000, lot 8.
Doubtful Portrait
An enamel by C. F. Zincke of c.1740-45, half-length oval, in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (ll 3345; Cat., 1983, p 86, from the Whitehead collection) does not compare convincingly with NPG 3067.
This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, and is as published 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.