| Method | Copper engraving |
| Artist | Pieter Stevensz van Gunst after Philip Tiedeman / Gerard Valck after Sir Godfrey Kneller |
| Published | Ph. Tiedeman Delin. Pieter van Gunst Sculpsit. M. Marrebeeck excudit. [c.1702] / G. Kneller ad vivum pinxit. G. Valck Excudit. [c.1694] |
| Dimensions | Images 553 x 405 mm, Sheets 568 x 418 mm each |
| Notes |
Two large half-length portraits of William and Mary, historically framed as a pair despite having been engraved and published separately. The date of publication for both is unknown, though the death date on the plate of William indicates that it at least was produced posthumously. William looks at the viewer body directed to left, wearing a wig, lace cravat, a suit of armour and a cloak draped across the front pinned to his left shoulder, the Garter Star just below, in a decorative oval, a crown, pikes, and horns above, and lion skin below with the title inscription. Mary is facing the viewer wearing a low-cut lace edged dress featuring a bejewelled collar, breast, and sleeves with strings of pearls at the shoulder, a pearl necklace and earings, and a further string of pearls in her hair. The portrait is enclosed in an oval chaplet of laurel, topped with a crown with sprigs or laurel, and with a pair of putti dressed as Diana and Minerva on either side of the title banner. King William III (1650-1702), sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s and King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until his death. Queen Mary II (1662-1694), Reigned with William III 1689-94. The eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, later James II, and Anne Hyde, Mary married Prince William of Orange in 1677. In the dilemma of the 1688 Revolution she supported her husband and Protestantism rather than her Catholic father, and she was invited to return to England in 1689 to share the monarchy with William. She proved a wise and effective ruler, especially during William's absences at war, and her many charitable schemes included the William and Mary Missionary College, Williamsburg, Virginia. Pieter Stevensz van Gunst (1658-1731) worked in Amsterdam as a reproductive engraver in the manner of Houbraken. A prolific printmaker, he is best-known for his portrait prints and book illustrations. He was linked with Britain in 1713-5 when he engraved a set of ten plates after whole-lengths by van Dyck from the Wharton collection (before they went to Houghton and thence to the Hermitage). These were proposed to subscribers by a syndicate of dealers - Cock, Comyns and McSwiny - who employed Houbraken to come from Holland in 1713 to make the drawings and van Gunst to engraved them in Amsterdam. The set of ten was advertised in the London Gazette on 13 December 1715. Philip Tiedeman (1657-1705) was a Dutch painter and draughtsman born in Hamburg. He was working in Amsterdam by 1679 as a student of Gerard de Lairesse. Gerard Valck (1652-1726) was a Dutch printmaker, mapmaker, and publisher, best known for his copper engraved and mezzotint portraits of English royalty and nobility, as well as for establishing the cartographic publishing house which would become known as Schenk and Valck. Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (1646 – 1723) was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I. His major works include The Chinese Convert (1687) a series of four portraits of Isaac Newton painted at various junctures of the latter's life, a series of ten reigning European monarchs, including King Louis XIV of France, over 40 "Kit-cat portraits" of members of the Kit-Cat Club and ten "beauties" of the court of William III, to match a similar series of ten beauties of the court of Charles II painted by his predecessor as court painter, Sir Peter Lely. O'Donoghue 74 and O'Donoghue 38 Condition: Overall time toning, some minor surface loss and short tears in margins. William: trimmed within the plate. Mary: two tears to the image on the right. Pressed horizontal crease to centre of sheet. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £1,500.00 |
| Stock ID | 49520 |