Portrait of the last Dauphin re-discovered in Paris

An important lost painting of France’s last Dauphin, Charles X’s son, the Duke of Angoulême, has been re-discovered by London-based art dealer Philip Mould. The picture formed part of the French royal collection, but was attacked by the Paris mob during the July Revolution in 1830.

The portrait was bought in a minor auction in Paris, where it was catalogued as attributed to Sir Thomas Lawrence and offered with no provenance. But analysis by Philip Mould Ltd has revealed not only that the picture was painted by Lawrence himself in 1825, but that it once hung in the Tuileries Palace adjacent to the Louvre.

Gainsborough's View of Ipswich rediscovered

A previously unknown landscape by the great English artist Thomas Gainsborough has been discovered by Philip Mould.  The picture was painted in the late 1740s, probably when Gainsborough was in his late teens or early twenties.

Lost painting shows genius of Thomas Gainsborough from childhood

A crucial lost painting by the young Thomas Gainsborough has been discovered by Philip Mould Ltd at an auction in Los Angeles.  Mould's research identifies it as one of Gainsborough’s earliest landscapes, probably painted in c.1740. 

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Gainsborough's unknown school sign

Research for our recent exhibition of Gainsborough paintings led to the discovery of a school sign in Holton St Mary Church which is believed to be one of his early works.  The composition, of a boy holding a spade and a book, is known from a signed drawing in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.  Lindsay Stainton believes it is still possible to see Gainsborough's original hand in the panel despite heavy over-painting in the 1960s.

Identity mystery revealed

Research by Philip Mould Ltd has led to the discovery of the identity of one of England’s most important mid-sixteenth century painters, Steven van Herwijck. He was mistakenly believed to be called Steven van der Meulen, and as a result little was known of his career.  Now, with the correct identification, we can begin to piece together his oeuvre, which probably includes the full-length Hampden portrait of Elizabeth I, sold by Philip Mould Ltd earlier this year.  The Hampden portrait is now on public display at Hampton Court Palace.

Anonymous sisters named as Elizabeth, Vere and Mary Egerton

This important portrait of three girls was recently acquired at auction by Philip Mould Ltd on behalf of a client. Our research led us to the identity of the sitters, who were three sisters; Elizabeth, Vere and Mary Egerton. The portrait was painted in c.1601.

Identifying Henry Stuart, Cardinal York

FRANCIS HAYMAN (1708 - 1776), Self Portrait Rejoined

Francis Hayman was one of the progenitors of a new English school of art in the mid-eighteenth century. The painting on the right was cut away from that on the left, probably by Hayman himself, almost 300 years ago. It was later overpainted entirely, with the dress changed to green, and Hayman’s knee covered up. Its discovery by this gallery in the USA allows the work, Hayman's earliest, to be reunited once more. It is thought that the lady is Hayman’s first wife.

Portrait of Elizabeth I as a Princess

The rediscovery of this portrait is a major addition to the iconography of Elizabeth I. It also throws new light on the phenomenon of portrait commissioning in Tudor and Elizabethan England in the middle years of the 16th century. Until now, this picture was thought to be a late copy, owing to the addition of two feebly painted outer panels, and the masking of the face with mid 20th century overpaint. Indeed, it seems that by the early 20th century the picture had lost its very identity as an image of Elizabeth. Restoration and research by Philip Mould Ltd has allowed this picture to be appreciated once more. It is one of only two contemporary individual portraits of Elizabeth before she became Queen in 1558.

A Royal Van Dyck

Conservation revealed the distinctive crowned CR cipher of King Charles I’s collection on the reverse of this ethereal portrait by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599 – 1641). Lady Mary Villiers (1622 – 1685) was the daughter of the King’s favourite the Duke of Buckingham, and the previously-unknown mark proved that the King, who raised Buckingham’s children almost as his own after the Duke was murdered in 1628, had placed a portrait of Lady Mary in his collection. Lady Mary, later the Duchess of Lennox and Richmond, was known not only for her beauty but for her wit, and recent research has established that she was very probably the anonymous poetess at King Charles II’s court who published as ‘Ephelia.’

Gainsborough's Missing Sister

Early works by artists such as Thomas Gainsborough (1727 – 1788) are rare and illuminating items, and are prized accordingly. The boy on the right of this composition had been attributed to several painters, including William Hogarth, until he was acquired in 1984 by Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury as a very early portrait by Gainsborough painted when he was only seventeen years old. Philip Mould identified the reduced and separated portrait of his sister when it appeared at sale seven years later, enabling the two to be reunited, in a manner that is not only psychologically satisfying, but establishes this portrait of c.1744 as Gainsborough’s earliest-known large-scale work.

The Lost Tudor Prince

This jewel-like object, painted by a Flemish artist in around 1500, is the only known life portrait of Arthur Prince of Wales (1486 – 1502), the short-lived heir of his father King Henry VII. Mistaken for a portrait of the Prince’s brother Henry VIII it had lapsed by the eighteenth century into an obscurity equalled by its sitter, and passed from the Royal Collection into private hands. Reidentified and restored it is a precious example of English royal portraiture on the brink of the Renaissance, and a unique likeness of the boy who was born to be King Arthur. It was recently on loan to the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The Human Face of Henry VIII

At first sight this painting of King Henry VIII appeared to be an unpromising later derivative of Hans Holbein’s famous portrait of 1537. Conservation, however, resulted in an extraordinary transformation and the removal of the later autocratic mask has revealed a sweeter and more human likeness underneath. This earlier portrait shows a still-youthful King before the Reformation, marital disillusionment and political resistance had shaped the harsh, unbending tyrant familiar from Holbein’s formidable likeness. This important addition to the iconography of Henry’s earlier reign was produced by a native workshop in the early 1530s, and dates perhaps to the period when the King was courting Anne Boleyn.

The painting has been acquired by Hever Castle as an important addition to their collection of early Tudor portraits.