24 Photographs From Days Gone By

LEWIS MORLEY (B.1925) 
Christine Keeler, 1963 
gelatin silver print, printed 1991 
signed, titled, dated and numbered '19/50' in ink, blindstamp credit in margin
18 x 13 7/8in. (45.5 x 35.3cm.) 

FRANK MEADOW SUTCLIFFE (1853-1941) 
Scenes of Whitby, 1880s 
Album of 54 albumen prints. 
Most initialled/numbered in negatives, majority captioned in ink on mounts. Each approx. 5 x 8in. (12.7 x 20.3cm.) or reverse. Burgundy leather.
Album size: 12 x 10in. (35.5 x 25cm.) 

CECIL BEATON (1904-1980); CLARENCE SINCLAIR BULL (1895-1979) 
Greta Garbo, 1930s-40s 
gelatin silver print
7½ x 7½in. (19 x 19cm.)

BRETT WESTON (1911-1993) 
Underwater nude, 1979 
gelatin silver print 
signed and dated in pencil on mount 
13 5/8 x 10½in. (34.7 x 26.8cm.) 

DAVID BAILEY 
Catherine Bailey, St. Paul de Vence, 1983 
platinum print, printed 1990 
signed, dated and numbered '6/25' in pencil on verso 
10½ x 17in. (26.6 x 43.2cm.) 

LILLIAN BASSMAN (B.1917) Touch of Dew, Lisa Fonssagrives, Harper's Bazaar, New York, 1961 
gelatin silver print 
signed in ink on verso 
10 1/8 x 13½in. (25.6 x 34cm.) 

HERBERT G. PONTING 
'Terra Nova' at the ice-foot, Cape Evans, 1911 
carbon print 
embossed copyright credit blindstamp on recto; titled and numbered '27' in unknown hand in ink in copyright credit/date stamp on label on flush-mount
28 x 22½in. (71 x 57cm.) 

SERGEANT JOHN HARROLD (active 1860s) & STAFF 
The Abyssinian War, 1868 
Album of 79 albumen prints, including 3 three-part and 2 two-part panoramas.
Each titled in ink on mount. Varying sizes from 3½ x 2¼in. (8.6 x 5.7cm.) to 10 3/8 x 8 1/8in. (26.5 x 20.5cm.) or reverse. Brown half leather.
Album size: 10¾ x 14¼in. (27.5 x 36cm.)

CECIL BEATON 
Gala and Salvador Dali, c.1935 
gelatin silver print 
titled and dated in unknown hand in pencil on reverse of flush-mount 
9 5/8 x 7 5/8in. (24.4 x 19.4cm.) 

BILL BRANDT (1906-1984) 
Nude, 1948 
gelatin silver print, printed 1970s 
signed in ink on mount 
13½ x 11½in. (34.3 x 29.1cm.) 

BILL BRANDT 
Dancing the Lambeth Walk, 1939 
gelatin silver print, printed 1970s 
signed in ink on mount; numbered '117' and annotated in unknown hand in pencil on reverse of mount
13 3/8 x 11½in. (34 x 29.2cm.) 

LEV BORODULIN 
Water Festival, 1960 
gelatin silver print, printed before 1973 
signed, titled and dated in Russian and English, credit and facsimile signature stamps on verso
15 5/8 x 10¾in. (39.8 x 27.4cm.) 

ELLEN VON UNWERTH 
Oh La La!, Miami, 1996 
gelatin silver print 
signed and dated in ink on verso 
17¾ x 12in. (45.2 x 30.5cm.) 

ELLEN VON UNWERTH 
Rebecca Asking 'What is it Mama?', New York, 1996 
gelatin silver print 
signed and dated in ink, numbered '7/10' in another hand in pencil on verso
17 7/8 x 12 1/8in. (45.2 x 30.7cm.)

BILL BRANDT 
Hansom cab, c.1934 
gelatin silver print, printed 1970s 
signed in ink on mount 
13½ x 11½in. (34.3 x 29.2cm.)

PETER BEARD 
Bianca Jagger inspects Airplane, July, 1972 
gelatin silver print triptych with paint/ink handwork, printed c.1990 
13¼ x 9 1/8in. (33.7 x 22.7cm.) 

MILTON H. GREENE (1922-1985) 
Marilyn Monroe, Black Sitting, 14 February 1956 
gelatin silver print 
signed, dated and numbered '3159/3D' in pencil, credit stamp on verso 
13¼ x 10 3/8in. (33.5 x 26.3cm.) 

EVE ARNOLD 
Marilyn Monroe, Studio Session, Hollywood, California, 1960 
gelatin silver print, printed later 
copyright credit blindstamp in margin; signed, titled and dated in pencil on verso
14 x 9½in. (35.5 x 24cm.) 

JEANLOUP SIEFF (1933-2000) 
Nu Coupé, 1976 
gelatin silver print 
signed and dated in ink in margin; titled and dated in ink, credit stamp on verso
11¾ x 8in. (30 x 20.2cm.) 

PETER BEARD 
Lauren Hutton at Lake Turkana, 1970s 
2 gelatin silver prints 
one titled and annotated 'P.B. Archives' in ink on verso 
each approx. 4 3/8 x 6½in. (11 x 16.5cm.) 

MICHEL COMTE (B.1954) 
Darryl Hannah, c.1990 
gelatin silver print 
signed and annotated 'AP' in pencil, copyright credit blindstamp in margin; signed and indistinctly annotated in pencil on verso
15½ x 15½in. (39.2 x 39.2cm.) 

BERT STERN (B.1930) 
Marilyn in Vogue, 1962 
digital inkjet print, printed later 
signed, titled and dated in pencil in margin; signed and numbered '389' in pencil, copyright credit reproduction limitation stamp on verso
22 5/8 x 19¾in. (57.5 x 50.5cm.) 

BERT STERN 
Marilyn in Roses, 1962 
digital ink-jet print, printed 2006 
signed, titled and numbered '28/36' in crayon on recto; titled, dated and numbered '28/36' in pencil, credit reproduction limitation stamp on verso14 x 9½in. (36.5 x 24cm.) 

BERT STERN 
Marilyn, Nude Red Scarf, 1962 
digital ink-jet print, printed 2006 
signed, titled and numbered '12/72' in crayon on recto; dated in pencil, credit reproduction limitation stamp on verso
10 x 10in. (25.5 x 25.5cm.) 

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The Hampton Court Beauties are a series of 8 portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneller, depicting the most glamorous ladies from the court of William III.

The Hampton Court Beauties are a series of 8 portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneller, commissioned by Queen Mary II of England, depicting the most glamorous ladies from the court of William III. They adorn the state rooms of King William III at Hampton Court Palace. Hampton Court also houses the so-called Windsor Beauties by Sir Peter Lely, depicting the most beautiful ladies of the court of King Charles II of England, a generation before. The Hampton Court Beauties are of a plainer, less erotic style reflecting the change in opinion towards women during the latter half of the seventeenth century.

Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723)

Lady Mary Bentinck (1679-1726), wife of Algernon, 2nd Earl of Essex

circa 1700

Oil on Canvas

61.8 x 51.5 cm (24 x 20 1/4 in)

Mary Capel, Countess of Essex (1679 – 20 August 1726), born Lady Mary Bentinck, was the daughter of William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of stadtholder William, Prince of Orange (the future King of England) and his wife Anne Villiers (died 30 November 1688).

Mary’s grandfather Sir Edward Villiers fought on the Royalist side during the English Civil War.  He was implicated in a plot to assist the escape of the Duke of York, and fled aboard where he continued to work for the Royalist cause. His wife Lady Frances Howard meanwhile secured places at court for four of her daughters, Anne, Elizabeth, Barbara and Katherine who were appointed as Ladies of the Bedchamber to the young Princesses Mary and Anne.

When William and Mary became joint monarchs following the Glorious Revolution young Lady Mary Bentinck came with them as one of the new Queen’s ladies in waiting.

In 1698 Mary married Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex. Algernon joined Mary at Court where he held the office of Gentleman of the Bedchamber to William. He served as Colonel and Lieutenant General in the 4th Dragoons, was Constable of the Tower of London and Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and in 1708 a Privy Councillor.


Algernon died in 1710 and in 1714 Mary married the Rt Hon Sir Conyers Darcy.  Mary died in 1726 aged 47 years old.  She led a full and busy life and her memory lives on – in the evocative Kneller portrait. More

Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723)

Mary Scrope, later Mrs Pitt (b.1676)

Signed and dated 1691

Oil on canvas

232.3 x 143.4 cm

Mary Scrope (b.1676 - died 25 August 1548) was the granddaughter of Henry Scrope, 4th Baron Scrope of Bolton. She is said to have been in the service at court of King Henry VIII's first four wives. As the wife of Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower of London, she was in attendance on Anne Boleyn during the Queen's brief imprisonment in the Tower in May 1536, and both she and her husband were among those who walked with the Queen to the scaffold. By her first husband, Edward Jerningham, she was the mother of Sir Henry Jerningham, whose support helped to place Queen Mary I on the throne of England in 1553, and who became one of Queen Mary's most favoured courtiers.

Mary Scrope was one of the nine daughters of Richard Scrope. Her mother was Eleanor Washbourne (d.1505/6), the daughter of Norman Washbourne (1433-1482).

On 11 May 1509 Mary Scrope's first husband, Edward Jerningham, was one of the gentleman ushers at the funeral of King Henry VII, and Mary herself, as 'Mrs Jerningham', was among the ladies granted mantlets and kerchiefs for the funeral. On 12 June 'Edward Jerningham and Mary his wife' were granted a life estate in the manors of Lowestoft and Mutford. On 24 June Edward Jerningham was chief cup-bearer at the coronation of Catherine of Aragon, and Mary, listed as 'Mrs Mary Jerningham', was among the ladies granted cloth for gowns for the occasion. From 1509 until 1527 Mary is said to have been one of the ladies who served the Queen.

Her first husband, Edward Jerningham, died in 1515, and by 1532 she had married Sir William Kingston, who had been appointed Constable of the Tower of London on 28 May 1524. In May 1536 Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII, became Kingston's prisoner. During her brief time in the Tower, Anne was attended by four women who had served either Catherine of Aragon or her daughter, Mary, and who were said to have been chosen by Thomas Cromwell because they were 'unsympathetic' to Anne. Kingston's original instructions from Cromwell were to discourage conversation with Anne. 

After the death of Anne Boleyn, the King married Jane Seymour, and at the christening of their infant son Prince Edward on 15 October 1537, Lady Kingston carried Mary Tudor's train. A few weeks later, on 12 November 1537, she was one of the twenty-nine women who walked in the funeral procession of Jane Seymour.

In 1536 Lady Kingston is said to have played a role in Mary Tudor's reconciliation with her father. Lady Kingston had charge of a joint household for Henry VIII's daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, from March 1538 until April 1539. Even after she was discharged from that position, Lady Kingston's continuing relationship with the King's elder daughter.

In 1539, Lady Kingston was among thirty ladies of the court appointed to serve as "ordinary waiters" to Anne of Cleves. According to some sources, Lady Kingston was in the service of all four of King Henry VIII's first four wives. Lady Kingston was even listed as a member of Henry's last queen consort, Catherine Parr's, household.


Lady Kingston made her will in 1548, and died on 25 August of that year. More

Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723)

Carey Fraser, Countess of Peterborough (c. 1658 – 13 May 1709) 

Signed and dated 1690-91

Oil on canvas

232.3 x 143.4 cm

Carey Mordaunt (née Fraser), Countess of Peterborough and Monmouth (c. 1658 – 13 May 1709), was an English courtier. She was a maid of honour to Charles II's queen consort, Catherine of Braganza, from 1674 to 1680.

Her father was Sir Alexander Fraser, 1st Baronet, of Durris in the County of Kincardine (1607–1681), physician to Charles II, and her mother was Mary Carey, daughter of Sir Ferdinando Carey and Philippa Throckmorton.

In 1678 she married Charles Mordaunt, 2nd Viscount Mordaunt (1658–1735), later 3rd Earl of Peterborough, and created Earl of Monmouth (in 1689). The marriage was, however, kept secret until May 1680. More

Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723)

Frances Whitmore (1666–1694), Lady Myddelton

c.1686

Oil on canvas

124.5 x 101.5 cm

Frances Whitmore (7 November 1666 - 1695) She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Whitmore and Hon. Frances Brooke. She married Sir Richard Myddelton, 3rd Bt., son of Sir Thomas Myddelton, 1st Bt. and Mary Cholmondeley, circa 1685/86. She died after 1695.

Her married name became Myddelton.

As one of the Hampton Court Beauties, Frances Myddelton (Nee Whitmore) was known as Lady Myddelton, coincidentally, her husband's aunt is the Mrs Myddelton of the Windsor Beauties and her own Mother is Lady Whitmore of the Windsor Beauties. More

Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723)

Lady Mary Compton (1669 – 6 August 1691)

c.16

Oil on canvas

124.5 x 101.5 cm

Lady Mary Compton (1669 – 6 August 1691), later Mary Sackville, Countess of Dorset, was a member of Queen Mary II's court She was Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary II.

Her father was James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton (1622–1681), and her mother was Hon. Mary Noel (died 1719). In 1685 she married Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (1637–1705), KG.

They lived at Copt Hall, Waltham Abbey, Essex. More

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Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723)

Diana De Vere, Duchess of St. Albans (c. 1679–15 January 1742) 

c. 1691

Oil on canvas

124.5 x 101.5 cm

Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans (c. 1679–15 January 1742), born Lady Diana de Vere, was a British courtier. She was Mistress of the Robes to Caroline, Princess of Wales from 1714 to 1717. 

She was the daughter of the Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford and Diana Kirke. On 17 April 1694, she married the 1st Duke of St Albans, an illegitimate son of King Charles II and his mistress Nell Gwynne, whereupon Diana became Duchess of St Albans. Together Beauclerk and Diana had 12 children. More

Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723)

Isabella, Duchess of Grafton (c. 1688-1723) and her son Charles Fitzroy, later 2nd Duke of Grafton (1683-1757)

oil on canvas 

94 x 57¼ in. (238.8 x 145.4 cm.)

Isabella Bennet FitzRoy, 2nd Countess of Arlington and Duchess of Grafton (c. 1668–7 February 1723) was a British peer, heiress, and the daughter of Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, a Royalist commander, by his wife Isabella de Nassau (1633–1718). Henry was created Baron Arlington for his loyalty to the crown. Lord Arlington was later further raised in the peerage to the titles of Earl of Arlington and Viscount Thetford, all of which were created with special remainder to allow women to inherit.

Isabella was married at the age of four to Henry FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (later created Duke of Grafton), the nine-year-old illegitimate son of King Charles II. The wedding ceremony was repeated on 7 November 1679 and they lived at Euston Hall. Isabella and her husband had one son, Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, who succeeded both his parents as 2nd Duke of Grafton and 3rd Earl of Arlington. After her first husband's death in 1690 from a wound received at the storming of Cork while leading the forces of William of Orange, the Duchess of Grafton remarried on 14 October 1698 to Sir Thomas Hanmer. More

Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723)

Margaret Cecil, Countess of Ranelagh (1672-1728)  

Signed 

c. 1690-91

Oil on canvas

124.5 x 101.5 cm

Margaret Cecil, Countess of Ranelagh (1672/1673 – 21 February 1728) was a British courtier. Lady Margaret was the daughter of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and his wife Margaret, a daughter of the Earl of Rutland. She first married John Stawell, 2nd Baron Stawell; he died in 1692 without their having any issue, although Crofts Peerage states they had one daughter, Anne. She later married Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh on 9 January, either 1695 or 1696; Crofts states they had no issue. Her third husband was George Thomas Downing; the couple had a daughter Sarah Isabell Downing, and a son, George Downing. More

Sir Godfrey Kneller, (1646-1723) was the successor to Lely as the principal portrait artist at the English Court. In the 1691, he was asked by Queen Mary II to paint the ‘Hampton Court Beauties’, the eight ‘reigning toasts’ of her own Court: ‘the most beautiful site because the originals were all in being, and often to be compared with their pictures’. Mary herself was the ‘Sovereign Queen of Beauty’, a fashion trend-setter and collector of fine china. In her commission to Kneller, she was consciously paying homage to the Lely ‘Windsor Beauties’, collected by her mother a generation earlier. 

This was a passionate decadent age, where the sensuality of the Court was reflected in its portraiture, when the rewards of using your beauty to advance your ambition were manifest. Royal mistresses like Nell Gwyn were handsomely rewarded for their services; Nell’s own son by the King, Charles Beauclerk, was created Duke of St Albans, and married into the established aristocracy: Diana de Vere was the daughter of the Earl of Oxford and another of Kneller’s ‘Hampton Court Beauties’.

Beauty was not just an aesthetic experience. It was an instrument of ambition, a conduit to pleasure and a magnet for sleaze. More

Acknowledgment; Wickipeida, Historic Royal Palaces

The 11 Windsor Beauties by Sir Peter Lely, painted in the early to mid-1660s.

The ‘Windsor Beauties’ series, were a set of eleven portraits of celebrated women at the Restoration court. The series was commissioned, or assembled, by Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, probably around 1662-5; painted by Peter Lely (1618–1680),  depicting the most beautiful ladies of the court of King Charles II of England. 

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Portrait of Frances Theresa Stuart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, circa 1662 and circa 1665

Medium oil on canvas

125.8 × 102.7 cm (49.5 × 40.4 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (8 July 1647 – 15 October 1702) was a prominent member of the Court of the Restoration and famous for refusing to become a mistress of Charles II of England. For her great beauty she was known as La Belle Stuart and served as the model for an idealised, female Britannia.

she caught the eye of Charles II, who fell in love with her. The king's infatuation was so great that when the queen's life was despaired of in 1663, it was reported that he intended to marry Stewart, and four years later he was considering the possibility of obtaining a divorce to enable him to make her his wife because she had refused to become his mistress.

Following the war with the Dutch, Charles had a commemorative medal cast, in which her face was used as a model for Britannia; this subsequently became customary for medals, coins and statues. She continued to appear on some of the copper coinage of the United Kingdom until the decimalization of the currency in 1971.[2] She also appeared on the fifty pence piece in 2006. More on Frances Teresa Stewart

Lely flattered his subjects, and gave each portrait a similar languorous and ‘sleepy eyed’ air, said to have been influenced by the features of the noted court beauty Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland who was painted many times by Lely. Only one of the sitters, Frances Teresa Stuart actually held the position of Maid of Honour in the Royal Household. Some of the others were noted courtesans, while others were respected members of the nobility.

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

La Belle Hamilton, Elizabeth, Countess of Gramont, circa 1663

Oil on canvas

125.1 × 101.6 cm (49.3 × 40 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Elizabeth, Countess de Gramont (née Hamilton; 1640 – 3 June 1708), was an Irish-born courtier and a lady-in-waiting to Louis XIV's queen consort, Maria Theresa of Spain. Shewas born in Strabane, Ireland. She became a member of the English court in 1661. She was described as a great beauty and became known for her judgement, charm and sensibility. She was much courted, by — among others — the Duke of York, the Duke of Richmond and the Heir of Norfolk, but she reportedly rejected them all.

She was married in London to Philibert, Count de Gramont, a French exile at the English court. "La belle Hamilton" was one of the great beauties of the English court. When Gramont was given permission to return to France, however, he left in a haste.

She followed her spouse to France in 1669, where she was made Dame du Palais to the French queen. She was a woman of considerable wit, and held her own at the court of Louis XIV, but her husband pursued his gallant exploits to the close of a long life. In 1696, her spouse was afflicted with a grave illness, and after he recovered, he turned to a religious life, in which she followed him. She died one year after being widowed. More on Elizabeth

In 1674, after the death of Anne Hyde, the pictures were hanging as a group in the White Room at Whitehall. Eleven pictures are mentioned in the inventory, although only ten are identified today as belonging to the group. The series was taken from Whitehall to Windsor. During the reign of Queen Anne they were hung in the Queen’s Waiting Room and later in the Queen’s State Bedchamber. They were at Hampton Court by June 1835. More on The Windsor Beauties

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Jane Needham, Mrs Myddleton (1646-92) with a cornucopia, possibly as Demeter

Oil on canvas

124.1 × 101.6 cm (48.9 × 40 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Jane Myddelton or Middleton (1645–1692), was a reputed English beauty of the Restoration period. Sshe was born at Lambeth during the latter part of 1645, and baptised in Lambeth Church on 23 January 1646.

Jane was married at Lambeth Church on 18 June 1660 to Charles Myddelton of Ruabon, third surviving son of Sir Thomas Myddelton of Chirk. Myddelton and his wife lived in London and appear to have subsisted for a time upon the bounty of relatives. A legacy from Lady Needham fell in upon that lady's death in 1666, and another upon Sir Thomas Myddelton's death in the same year.

After the accession of James II, "Mrs. Myddelton" enjoyed an annual pension of £500 from secret service money. Her husband, who had for some years held a place of about £400 a year in the prize office, died insolvent in 1691. She died in the following year, and was buried beside her husband in Lambeth Church.

As a married woman was much courted by men; she is now thought to have taken just two lovers, Ralph Montagu and Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester. Antonia Fraser writes that her life "was founded on masculine support in return for sexual favours", but also that her affairs "were seen more as a tribute paid to her great beauty". She was an amateur artist capable of contributing to the iconography of her portraits. Besides that by Peter Lely in the "Windsor Beauties" series, there was second Lely portrait (1666) commissioned by Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland for another series. More on Jane Myddelton

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Margaret Brooke, Lady Denham (ca 1647-67)

Oil on canvas

124.5 × 101 cm (49 × 39.8 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Margaret Brook, Lady Denham,  (ca 1647-67), was married to a man twice her age. Determined to make her own way at Court and in Restoration England. The way to social advancement for a pretty young woman, was to catch the eye of the king or his brother. Her attempts to set her cap at King Charles II were thwarted by the king’s principal mistress Barbara Palmer, turning her attention to his brother, the Duke of York. By June 1666 the Duke of York was wholly given up her. Lady Denham, declared that she woul not be his mistress, but would be owned publicly.  The affair ended in tragedy with her sudden death. She believed she had been poisoned and insisted before she died that an autopsy should be carried out. No trace of poison was found but it did not allay public suspicion that her husband Sir John Denham had murdered her with a poisoned cup of cocoa at the behest of the jealous Duchess of York, an early example of death by chocolate. More on Margaret Brook

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Frances Brooke, Lady Whitmore (d. 1690), circa 1665

Frances Brooke, Lady Whitmore was the sister was Margaret Brooke, Lady Denham, above

Oil on canvas

124.4 × 101.3 cm (49 × 39.9 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Hon. Frances Brooke (1640 – c. 1690) was a British courtier. She was styled Hon. Frances Brooke, and then Lady Whitmore. She was granted the style of a daughter of a baron. 

Her father was Sir William Brooke (1601–1643), and her mother was Penelope Hill ( -c.1694). Frances was first married to Sir Thomas Whitmore ( -1682), had three children with him. She then married Matthew Harvey ( -c.1693/94). She lead a life of quiet domesticity away from the hurly burly of court life. More on Frances Brooke

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Mary Bagot, Countess of Falmouth and Dorset (1645-79)

circa 1664 and circa 1665

Oil on canvas

124.3 × 101.3 cm (48.9 × 39.9 in)

Current location

Hampton Court Palace

Mary, Countess of Falmouth and Dorset (1645 – 1679) was a British courtier. She was one of the Windsor Beauties painted by Sir Peter Lely. Her portrait by Lely was erroneously named "Elizabeth, Countess of Falmouth" and also as "Countess of Ossory" in some portrait prints and books in the 18th and 19th centuries, many of which were later reprinted, compounding the error.

Her father was Col. Henry Bagot, and mother was Dorothea Arden. She married Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth in 1663. He died at the Battle of Lowestoft. The widowed Countess of Falmouth, lady-of-the-bedchamber to the Queen appears in the various lists of the King’s mistresses, though apparently not as one of the main contenders. She then married Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset in June 1674. This second marriage for Mary Bagot terminated after five years with her death in childbirth. More on Mary Bagot

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Henrietta Boyle, Countess of Rochester (1646-87)

circa 1665

Oil on canvas

124.4 × 101.4 cm (49 × 39.9 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Henrietta Hyde, Countess of Rochester (née Boyle; 1646 – 12 April 1687) was an English noblewoman, daughter of the Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington, whose namesake went on to build the stunning Chiswick House. She was born in Wiltshire, England to Sir Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork and Elizabeth Boyle, Countess of Cork. In 1665 she married Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester; becoming sister-in-law to Anne Hyde, Duchess of York. She was later Governess to Anne's daughter, Princess Anne, between 1677 and 1682 . Henrietta had four children. 

Like most of the Boyle dynasty, who in the space of two generations had become almost all-powerful in the south of Ireland, Henrietta was strong-minded and acquisitive, and could be ruthless in asserting her rights. During the last two years of her life, when her husband was Chief Minister to his brother-in-law King James II, Henrietta took full advantage of his power to claim every possible privilege. She clashed bitterly with her husband's niece, the future Queen Anne over who should have the best apartments in Whitehall Palace. She died 1687 in her 42nd year. More on Henrietta Boyle

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland (ca 1641-1709)

circa 1665

Oil on canvas

124.5 × 101.4 cm (49 × 39.9 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine, also known as Lady Castlemaine (27 November 1640 – 9 October 1709) was an English courtesan from the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of England, by whom she had five children, all of whom were acknowledged and subsequently ennobled. Her influence was so great that she has been referred to as "The Uncrowned Queen." Her immediate contemporary was Madame de Montespan, mistress of King Louis XIV of France.

Barbara was the subject of many portraits, in particular by court painter Sir Peter Lely. Her extravagance, foul temper and promiscuity provoked diarist John Evelyn into describing her as the "curse of the nation", whereas Samuel Pepys often noted seeing her, admiringly.

Barbara's 1st cousin Elizabeth Villiers (later 1st Countess of Orkney 1657–1733) was the only acknowledged mistress of King William III. More on Barbara Palmer

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Anne Digby, Countess of Sunderland (ca 1646-1715)

before 1666

Oil on canvas

124.9 × 101.8 cm (49.2 × 40.1 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Anne Spencer, Countess of Sunderland (née Digby; c. 1646 – 26 April 1715) was the wife of Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland and the daughter of George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol and Lady Anne Russell.

Sunderland had previously broken off their long-standing engagement. He told his friends that he had reason enough and was resolved never to have her. He soon had second thoughts and their mothers worked together to produce a reconciliation which resulted in an entirely successful marriage. She was a lady-in-waiting to Mary of Modena during the reign of James II, and was present at the birth of the Prince of Wales, signalling to the king that his new child was a boy.

She is alleged to have had an affair with Henry Sidney, Earl of Romney, her husband's uncle. Her devotion to her husband was never seriously questioned; his biographer considered that it was principally his happy marriage which sustained Sunderland through a long and unhappy life.

She had at least five children by Sunderland, only one of whom outlived her. More on Anne Spencer

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley, later Countess of Northumberland, later Countess of Montagu (1646-90), mother of Lady Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Ogle

circa 1665

Oil on canvas

125.7 × 103.5 cm (49.5 × 40.7 in)

Hampton Court Palace

Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Northumberland (née Wriothesley; 1646 – 19 September 1690), was a British courtier. Her father was Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, and her mother was Lady Elizabeth Leigh, daughter of the 1st Earl of Chichester.


She married Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland, on 23 December 1662. They had two children. She traveled with her husband to Italy, where he was taken ill and died in Turin, the next year. Upon his death, being a wealthy heiress, she married Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, at Titchfield, Hampshire, on 24 August 1673. More on Elizabeth Wriothesley

Peter Lely (1618–1680)

Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans seated in a landscape

c. 1662

Oil on Canvas

Henrietta of England (16 June 1644 (26 June n.s.) – 30 June 1670) was the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France. Fleeing England with her governess at the age of three, she moved to the court of her first cousin Louis XIV of France, where she was known as Minette. After she married Philippe of France, brother of King Louis XIV, she became known as Madame. Very popular with the court, her marriage was marked by frequent tensions. Henrietta was instrumental in negotiating the Secret Treaty of Dover prior to her unexpected death in June 1670. More on Henrietta of England

Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin, whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch parents in Soest in Westphalia, where his father was an officer serving in the armed forces of the Elector of Brandenburg. Lely studied painting in Haarlem. He became a master of the Guild of Saint Luke in Haarlem in 1637. 

He arrived in London in around 1641. His early English paintings, mainly mythological or religious scenes, or portraits set in a pastoral landscape. Lely's portraits were well received, and became the most fashionable portrait artist in England. He became a freeman of the Painter-Stainers' Company in 1647 and was portrait artist to Charles I. His talent ensured that his career was not interrupted by Charles's execution, and he served Oliver Cromwell, whom he painted "warts and all", and Richard Cromwell. 

After the English Restoration in 1660, Lely was appointed as Charles II's Principal Painter in Ordinary in 1661. Lely became a naturalised English subject in 1662. 

Among his most famous paintings are a series of 10 portraits of ladies from the Royal court, known as the "Windsor Beauties", formerly at Windsor Castle but now at Hampton Court Palace; a similar series for Althorp; a series of 12 of the admirals and captains who fought in the Second Anglo-Dutch War, known as the "Flagmen of Lowestoft", now mostly owned by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich; and his Susannah and the Elders at Burghley House.

His most famous non-portrait work is probably Nymphs by a fountain in Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Lely was knighted in 1680. He died soon afterwards at his easel in Covent Garden, while painting a portrait of the Duchess of Somerset, and was buried at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden. More on Sir Peter Lely

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