Early Stuart Portraits Catalogue

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds ('Lord Danby') (1631-1712), Statesman

c.1660
Miniature by Samuel Cooper, bust-length oval in armour with sash, long cravat and wig, the frame cartouche is engraved: Thos. Osborne Earl of Danby. Duke of Buccleuch (S. Lloyd, Portrait Miniatures in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch, 1996, p 82 no.40).

c.1674-76
Painting by Peter Lely, whole-length in Parliamentary robes (without Garter); compared with NPG 1472, the head is identical but the feet and hands are differently disposed. Christie’s, 1 December 2000, lot 5, from the Duke of Leeds (who had lent it to the Government Art Collection from 1930, O/319/109). The head engr. A. Blooteling (F. W. H. Hollstein, Dutch & Flemish Etchings Engravings and Woodcuts 1450-1700, 36) and a drawing by G. P. Harding, inscribed ‘Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby/from the engraving by Blooteling’, was sold Sotheby’s, 30 January 1991, part lot 22.

c.1684-85
Painting attributed to Kneller, three-quarter length seated, with wand and Garter robes. Government Art Collection (9), presented by Lord Godolphin 1833 (J. D. Stewart, Godfrey Kneller, 1983, no.423 as Kneller c.1685; in 1892 Scharf had misattributed it to Greenhill; Sir George Scharf’s Trustees’ sketch books 37:79). Has also been attributed to Claret. A copy in a private collection 2006; a version exh. Second Exhibition of National Portraits, South Kensington, 1867, no.50, lent by the Earl of Derby, was then in poor condition.

A half-length by ‘Kneller’ was lent by the Duke of Leeds to the Government Art Collection in 1930 (O/331/37).

On 29 April 1682 Charles Bertie told his niece, the Countess of Rutland, that he had not heard ‘Mr Clarett could do anything at the outcry with your commission, so that I presume those peeces were disposed of. If my painter come out of the country I will endeavour to get your Ladyship an originall of my Lord of Danby ...’; on 29 May H. E. [sic] Claret in London told Roger Herbert at Belvoir: ‘My Lady commanded me to do a picture of Lord Danby’ – who was then in the Tower of London (HMC Belvoir Castle, II, 1889, pp 71, 74).

c.1685-87
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, whole-length standing, holding wand, in Garter robes, inscribed with identity. Holkham (J. D. Stewart, Godfrey Kneller, 1983, no.424, p 193 recording a payment of £40 paid to Kneller from Lord Danby in 1687). Exhibited Age of Charles II, RA, 1960, no.99. A version at Penrhyn (National Trust).

1694-96
Statue by John van der Stein (Vanderstaine). Physic Gardens, Oxford.

1694-99
Drawing by Robert White, engr. R. White (R. White ad Vivum delin: et sculpsit) as Duke of Leeds (cr. 1694) and Lord Lieutenant of the three Ridings of Yorkshire, a post relinquished in 1699. British Museum (G.g.1-476; E. Croft-Murray & P. Hulton, British Museum, Catalogue of British Drawings: XVI and XVII centuries, I, pp 540-41, White, no.2). An example of White’s engraving is NPG 631.

Doubtful Portraits
Miniature by Nicolas Dixon (fl. 1667-1708), bust-length oval, short lace cravat. Lord Beauchamp. Exhibited British Portrait Miniatures, Edinburgh, 1965, no.144.

Painting by Godfrey Kneller 1687, three-quarter length seated, wearing brown, signed and dated. London Art market 2005.


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.