Lot 26: Hamlet Winstanley c. 1694-1756 , Portrait of a gentleman and a lady a pair, oil on canvas, unframed

both half length, he wearing a grey coat and blue waistcoat, she wearing a blue dress with a pink shawl, holding a basket of flowers a pair, oil on canvas, unframed Quantity: 2

each 91 by 70.5 cm., 36 by 27¾ in.

It has been suggested that the sitters are John de Carteret, son of Philip de Carteret, and his wife Jane (nee Falla?). They were married on the 24th March 1758 but sadly no further information can be found.

Hamlet Winstanley was a painter and engraver based predominantly in Warrington, Lancashire. Initially self-taught as an artist by 1713 he was in London drawing in Kneller's academy in Great Queen Street, returning to Warrington in 1721.

Under the patronage of James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby, of Knowsley Hall, Lancashire, Winstanley spent two years in Italy between 1723 and 1725. On his return to England he painted members of the Stanley family which remain at Knowlsey today. Today Winstanley is perhaps best known as an early tutor of George Stubbs (1724-1806).