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1 of 253523 objects
British School, 16th century
Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby (d 1637) c.1580-90
Oil on panel | 99.0 x 86.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405696
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Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby is shown at three-quarter length, wearing a black gown and wife open lace ruff set into deep figure-of-eight pleats. A black necklace around her neck is decorated with pendant monograms made up of the letter A. This painting is in the style of portraits produced by the studios of the Gheeraerts and De Critz families.
Alice Spencer was the daughter of Sir John Spencer of Althorp. She married Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby shortly before 1580, then later married the 1st Viscount Brackley as his third wife.
The painting appears in Pyne's illustrated 'Royal Residences' of 1819, hanging in Queen Caroline's Drawing Room at Kensington Palace (RCIN 922151).
Provenance
Bears the red wax seal of the Capel family; one of a group of paintings acquired in 1731 with the lease of Kew House from Lady Elizabeth Capel by Frederick, Prince of Wales; recorded in the Pricy Chamber at Kensington Palace in 1818 (no 63) as the Countess of Derby by Federico Zuccaro
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Creator(s)
(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
99.0 x 86.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
111.3 x 99.0 x 5.3 cm (frame, external)
