Portrait of William Ashe (?-?)

Dateca. 1670

Attributed to Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680)

Attributed to Frederick Sonnius

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 29 13/16 x 24 7/8 in. (75.7 x 63.2 cm.) and framed: 29 13/16 x 24 7/8 x 2 3/8 in. (94.0 x 80.6 x 6.0 cm.)

Credit LineBequest of Elizabeth Ridgely Blagojevich.

Object number1991-330,A&B

DescriptionA bust-length portrait of a young man turned one-quarter to the left, his eyes toward the viewer. He wears a full white neckcloth tied in a bow; a russet-colored robe or drape is fastened with a large jeweled brooch over his proper left shoulder; beneath the robe, a [doublet?] having slashed sleeves is visible. The figure is set within an elaborate compositional oval of trompe l'oeil carved spandrels including cornucopias that meet at the bottom below the subject, with a scallop-shell effect above the subject.
The 4-inch carved and gilded panel-style frame is a period (or slightly later) replacement.
Label TextThe handling of the paint suggests that the head of this subject was rendered by Lely himself, the remainder by studio assistants, in this case most plausibly Frederick Sonnius. Due to the press of business, such a division of responsibility became increasingly common in the later years of Lely's career.
Lely's account books refer to a portrait of "Mr Ash, 1/2 length," but in the seventeenth century, this term referred to what we today call a "three-quarter- length" portrait, that is, one depicting the subject to the knees, then generally measuring 50 x 40 inches. Therefore, the account book entry is thought to reference a more elaborate likeness---but conceivably one of this same subject.
InscribedA modern brass plaque on the lower frame member reads, "Sir Peter Lely/William Ashe Esq./1618-1680".
ProvenanceOwnership prior to CWF's donor, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Blagojavech, is undocumented.