John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork and Orrery

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed in paint on the back: Earl of Cork & Orrery, and on the stretcher: 1st husband to Susanna Countess of/Ailesbury; also a MS label Earl of Cork & Orrery Father of Lord Viscount Dunga ..., and another label 91 and stencil 237 LII.

This portraitback to top

The handling of NPG 4621 seems to agree with known work by Isaac Seeman who died in England in 1751 and whose portrait of Henrietta, first wife of the sitter, was engraved by Vertue. Isaac, according to the latter, was successor to his brother Enoch (d. 1744) but the work of this family needs further elucidation. Paul, Enoch's only son, was also a painter. Mrs Hill [1] suggests a date, on costume, in the late 'forties although it could be earlier.

Footnotesback to top

1) Former NPG Registrar, to whom I am indebted for both attribution and research on this entry.

Physical descriptionback to top

Blue eyes, double chin, fresh complexion; red velvet cap and matching gown lined with ermine, gold lace edging of a coat or waistcoat just visible above, white shirt and neck-tie; plain brown background; lit from the left.

Conservationback to top

Unlined; the paint is very dry; a few discoloured retouchings visible, e.g. in the right cheek; cleaned, 1971.

Provenanceback to top

Presented, 1968, by H. Leggatt, the purchaser at the sale of Mrs Bruce Binney, Wolfhall Manor, Marlborough, Wilts, 9 August 1968, lot 739: '18th century oil painting reputed to be from the collection of the Countess of Ailesbury'. It is probably the portrait recorded by G. P. Harding in the Ailesbury collection, Tottenham Park, Wilts, 1804: 'Earl of Orrery afterwards Earl of Cork, Father of Lord Dungarvan/1st husband of Susannah Countess of Ailesbury.' [1] The MS label on the back of NPG 4621 is now partly torn and a misreading in the later painted inscription makes it appear that Cork married Susannah, wife of his eldest son Charles, Viscount Dungarvan (1729-59) who would be too young to represent the sitter. Charles' widow married, as her second husband, the 1st Earl of Ailesbury.

1) G. P. Harding, List of Portraits ... in Various Mansions of the United Kingdom ... MS, c.1804, NPG archives, II, p 326.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Kerslake, Early Georgian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1977, 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.

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