Page 3 - Spring 2019
P. 3
18th century portrait miniature of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, probably after Isaac Oliver, watercolour on ivory
By Lady Margaret Bingham, Countess of Lucan
H 4.1cm H 13⁄4"
set in gilt-metal frame
Bingham was a British painter, copyist, and poet. Her art was much admired by Horace Walpole.
As an artist, Bingham often copied the work of others, as well as painting portrait miniatures. Her work was collected in the United Kingdom and in France. In Paris she was given access to the Palais- Royal to copy works of the artists on display there, which were owned by the Duke of Orléans. Her foremost work was to supply miniatures and illuminations for a five-volume edition of Shakespeare's historical plays, for the library at Althorp, Northamptonshire. This took 16 years to complete.
Devereux was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599. In 1601, he led an abortive coup d'état against the government and was
5096 (1680574/570500/16) executed for treason. £ 800
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