Oil painting Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford
Object number
LDSAL308
Artist/Designer/Maker
Dahl, Michael - Artist
Production date
Circa 1719
Material
oil paint
canvas (paint canvas)
canvas (paint canvas)
Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 840mm
Width: 685mm
Width: 685mm
Location
Burlington House - (on display)
Content description
Harley is shown half-length to right in a green chair, wearing a brown dressing gown lined with greenish-blue silk, a brown velvet nightcap and a slate-blue neckcloth against a plain dark background. He has dark blue eyes, ruddy clean-shaven face and is aged about thirty.
Inscriptions
Inscription content
EDWARD EARL OF OXFORD / Ob.t 1741. / AEtat LII
Inscriber
Dahl, Michael
Inscriber role/association
Artist
Inscription date
c. 1719
Inscription content
The Rt. Honble Earl of Oxford and Earl of Mortimer, the proprietor and collector of the Harleian Musm Library. Died 1741 aged 52 M. Dahl pinxit.
Inscriber role/association
Artist
Oil on canvas portrait of Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford (1689-1741), in gilded frame.
Edward Harley (1689−1741) succeeded his father as 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer in 1724. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1727 but was never a member of the Society of Antiquaries.
His marriage in 1713 to Lady Henrietta Holles brought him a considerable fortune, as well as Wimpole Hall, in Cambridgeshire. Patronage of the arts and book collecting were his consuming passions and he assisted many scholars and antiquaries. He was the close friend and patron of the Society’s engraver, George Vertue (LDSAL314), and they went on tours together.
The celebrated library, begun by the 1st earl, was greatly expanded with the help of Humfrey Wanley (LDSAL309), and John Bagford, two of the Society’s founder members. After Wanley’s death in 1726, Harley he was guided by his literary secretary, William Oldys, FSA (LDSAL507). By the time of Harley’s death, the collections formed the finest private library in England, but were dispersed soon afterwards. However, several volumes of British topographical prints and drawings were purchased at auction for the Society, and the manuscripts were retained and bought in 1753 from his family for the new British Museum.
His marriage in 1713 to Lady Henrietta Holles brought him a considerable fortune, as well as Wimpole Hall, in Cambridgeshire. Patronage of the arts and book collecting were his consuming passions and he assisted many scholars and antiquaries. He was the close friend and patron of the Society’s engraver, George Vertue (LDSAL314), and they went on tours together.
The celebrated library, begun by the 1st earl, was greatly expanded with the help of Humfrey Wanley (LDSAL309), and John Bagford, two of the Society’s founder members. After Wanley’s death in 1726, Harley he was guided by his literary secretary, William Oldys, FSA (LDSAL507). By the time of Harley’s death, the collections formed the finest private library in England, but were dispersed soon afterwards. However, several volumes of British topographical prints and drawings were purchased at auction for the Society, and the manuscripts were retained and bought in 1753 from his family for the new British Museum.