Lot 24: Nicholas Hilliard (British, 1547-1619) A Gentleman, wearing black doublet with white ruff and tall black hat

A Gentleman, wearing black doublet with white ruff and tall black hat.
Watercolour on vellum, pierced foliate silver-gilt frame with white enamel highlights, set with a table-cut diamond, red and green stones and fresh-water pearls.
Oval, 35mm (1 3/8in) high

The present lot can be dated to the last decade of the 16th Century, the costume and appearance of the sitter comparing well with Hilliard's portrait of Leonard Darr, dated 1591, see Dynasties, Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630, Tate Gallery, London, 12 October 1995-7 January 1996, catalogue entry no.75.

At this period, Hilliard was heavily in debt following his return from France and poor decision to become involved in a failed attempt to prospect for gold in Scotland. Still to be included on the court payroll, he was reliant on commissions for his income and was therefore obliged to accept sitters from outside the court. Wealthy merchants such as Mr Darr and the present sitter, whose clothing suggest that they were, though prosperous, not of high social rank, provided Hilliard with much needed income and as a result for the first time, the portrait miniature began to extend beyond the exclusive court clientele of previous decades.