Oil painting Sir John Dugdale
Object number
LDSAL506
Artist/Designer/Maker
Unknown artist - Artist
Production date
Circa 1686
Material
oil paint
canvas (paint canvas)
canvas (paint canvas)
Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 865mm
Width: 750mm
Width: 750mm
Location
Burlington House - (on display)
Object history note
Presented by Beriah Botfield, MP, FSA (1807-63), in 1850. Botfield said he had obtained it some time before from Mr Owen of Bond Street, who told him he had received it from a house in Warwickshire.
Content description
In this bust-length portrait, Dugdale turns to his right. He has long wavy hair and wears a dark grey coat with gold buttons, under which he wears a flowered waistcoat of the same colour. The background is a dull shade of grey. The badge worn around the sitter's neck is that of Norroy King of Arms.
The shield in the upper-left corner is composed of the arms of the Garter King of Arms impaling the arms of Dugdale. The cartouche shape of the shield suggests this was added in the later eighteenth-century.
The shield in the upper-left corner is composed of the arms of the Garter King of Arms impaling the arms of Dugdale. The cartouche shape of the shield suggests this was added in the later eighteenth-century.
Inscriptions
Inscription content
SIR WILLIAM DUGDALE
Oil on canvas portrait of Sir John Dugdale (1628-1700)
(inscribed 'Sir William Dugdale')
Despite the inscription, this is probably a portrait of Sir John Dugdale (1628-1700), the only surviving son of the scholar and herald, Sir William Dugdale (1605-86). John also pursued a heraldic career in the College of Arms without achieving his father’s eminence. Employed for a time in the household of the earl of Clarendon, John was appointed Windsor Herald in 1675 in place of his brother-in-law, Elias Ashmole. He was appointed Deputy Garter King of Arms in 1684 on account of his father’s failing health, but did not succeed him as Garter when Sir William died in February 1686. The following month, John was appointed Norroy King of Arms instead and knighted. He left most of his heraldic work to one of the other heralds, Gregory King, and his only publication was a single sheet: A catalogue of the nobility of England according to their respective precedencies (1685). He died in Coventry in 1700 and was buried at Shustoke, Warwickshire, in the same church as his father.
The shield in the upper left-hand corner is composed of the arms of Garter King of Arms impaling the arms of Dugdale. The cartouche shape of the shield suggests that this was added in the later eighteenth century, probably at the same time as the inscription, in an attempt to establish the image as that of Sir William. Mark Noble pointed out as early as 1804 that the portrait represents a younger man than Sir William would have been when he was appointed Garter.
Sir William was also Norroy between 1660 and 1677 at a similar age to his son, so this alone would not rule him out as the sitter. However, portraits of Sir William show him with a very different appearance and wearing a puritan collar. By contrast, the portrait of Sir John (labelled ‘H’) in an engraving of the coronation procession of James II in 1685 looks much more like the sitter in the Society’s portrait, as does a privately owned portrait of John Dugdale as a young man. It is more likely, therefore, that the Society’s portrait is of Sir John and that it was painted around 1686 when he was appointed Norroy and knighted.
The shield in the upper left-hand corner is composed of the arms of Garter King of Arms impaling the arms of Dugdale. The cartouche shape of the shield suggests that this was added in the later eighteenth century, probably at the same time as the inscription, in an attempt to establish the image as that of Sir William. Mark Noble pointed out as early as 1804 that the portrait represents a younger man than Sir William would have been when he was appointed Garter.
Sir William was also Norroy between 1660 and 1677 at a similar age to his son, so this alone would not rule him out as the sitter. However, portraits of Sir William show him with a very different appearance and wearing a puritan collar. By contrast, the portrait of Sir John (labelled ‘H’) in an engraving of the coronation procession of James II in 1685 looks much more like the sitter in the Society’s portrait, as does a privately owned portrait of John Dugdale as a young man. It is more likely, therefore, that the Society’s portrait is of Sir John and that it was painted around 1686 when he was appointed Norroy and knighted.