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| Title | Portrait of Sir John Nicholas | |
| Collection | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Artist | Lely, Peter (Dutch painter and draftsman, 1618-1680, active in England) | |
| Date | 1667 | |
| Description | Sir John Nicholas (162 -1704) was eldest son of Sir Edward Nicholas, Secretary of State to Charles I and Charles II. He was created Knight of the Bath immediately before the coronation of Charles II. He is shown wearing the ribbon of the Bath, and was Clerk of the Council during that king's reign and those of the three succeeding monarchs. Vertue gives 1662 as the date of the painting he saw. Sir John Nicholas in his account book, however, notes payment for his portrait on 7 September 1667 (British Library, Add. MS 41202, no. 6). |
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| Current Accession Number | 1937P891 | |
| Former Accession Number | P.891´37 | |
| Inscription | front lr 'Sir John Nicholas' | |
| Subject | portrait (Nicholas, Sir John) | |
| Measurements | 125.4 x 102 cm.0 cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Given by Mr and Mrs John Bellis 1937. | |
| Provenance | Lady Cooper, Horsley Place in 1725; Henry M. Weston; Spink & Son Ltd, 1937. | |
| Principal Exhibitions | Two Centuries of British Painting, Prague & Bratislava, cat. no. 89. | |
| Publications | Vertue, G., 'The Noteboks of George Vertue II', The Walpole Society, vol. 20, 1931, p. 81; Vertue, G., 'The Noteboks of George Vertue IV',The Walpole Society, vol. 24, 1937, p. 153; Beckett, R. B., Peter Lely, 1951, p. 55; Catalogue of Paintings in Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, 1930; Catalogue of Paintings in Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, 1960. | |
| Notes | See B.L. Add.Ms. 41202 for the sitter's account book entry of 7 September 1667 where he refers to the portrait. Spink certificate says 'formerly in possesson of Lady Cooper at Horsley Place and purchased from her son, Lieut. Colonel Cooper.' The picture was seen by George Vertue early in the eighteenth century. | |
| Rights Owner | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Author | Dr Patricia Smyth | |