WITHDRAWN Circle of Robert Peake the Elder,
English 1551-1619-
Portrait of...

WITHDRAWN Circle of Robert Peake the Elder,

English 1551-1619-

Portrait of Eleanor Acland (1573-1645), three-quarter length wearing a yellow dress and ruff, standing in an interior, turned to the right;

oil on canvas, inscribed and dated in a later hand 'Eleanor Dau.r & Sole Heiress / of Rob.t Malet of Wooley / Wife of S.r Arthur Acland K.t / 1607' (lower left), 95.8 x 82.5 cm.

Provenance: Private Collection, UK (by descent).

Note: Eleanor Acland, née Mallet, was the daughter and co-heiress of Robert Mallet of Woolleigh in Beaford, Devon. She married Sir Arthur Acland (1573-1610), ancestor to the long-enduring Acland family and the first owner of Killerton House in Devon, which survives today and has been owned by the National Trust since 1944. Eleanor's mother (or step-mother) was Elizabeth Rolle, who was remarried to Sir John Acland (c.1552-1620), Sir Arthur's uncle (see the previous lot). Killerton House was first used as a residence for Eleanor following Arthurs death, and did not become the familys chief seat until after 1672 when their grandson Sir Hugh Acland, 5th Baronet (c.1639-1713) altered and enlarged the house, and abandoned Columb John, of which all that survives today is the Elizabethan gateway.

Arthur and Eleanor bore two daughters as well as a son and heir, Sir John Acland, 1st Baronet (c.1591-1647) who married his own step-sister Elizabeth Vincent (d.1671). A large monument with effigies of Eleanor and Arthur, said to have been erected by Arthurs grieving father whom Arthur pre-deceased, lies in St Paul's Church, Landkey in North Devon. The sitter would have been aged around thirty-four at the time of this portraits painting, and the anonymous artist here clearly took delight in depicting the sumptuous details of her dress. Note especially her fine saffron lacework, which was very expensive and fashionable for only around 10 years in the second decade of the 1600s.