Follower of Hans Holbein (German, c. 1497-1543), A portrait...

Hammer

£5,000

Follower of Hans Holbein (German, c. 1497-1543),
A portrait of Henry VIII,
Oil on panel,
Unsigned, applied labels (see notes below) and stencilled '868GZ' verso,
30.5cm x 39.5cm,
Framed (restored),

LABELS: The largest handwritten label inscribed: "This picture was bought by Mr Akroyd, the famous collector, & believed by him to have been a Holbein. That it has been most unskilfully restored and the beard spoilt is obvious, but the unmutilated features are evidently those of the master. It once formed part of a large picture as is evidenced; first by the shape, the proportions to the panel being such that no painter would have begun a portrait on, & secondly that it is facial. After the death oh Henry VIII, his adherents cut out the heads of all the existing pictures in which this monarch [????], in order to protect them from the bigotted fury of Queen Mary's courtiers who sought to destroy every trace of that great foe of Rome. This panel was probably one of these heads so treated, and as they were stored away in [????] rooms for centuries all historic records of these are lost." [This text later transcribed in the white labels to the right].

The smaller handwritten label below reading: "Henry VIII by Holbein Purchased February 1895 from C.H. Waters of 19 Buckingham Palace Road, for £???".

The applied printed label to the left reading "Capt. J.W. Gambier R.N., Mylncroft, Farnborough, Hants" and further inscribed "Given to Enid R. Gambier 1st Jan 96 by IWG",

NOTE: Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, GCB (13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was a Royal Navy officer who saw action during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars. His daughter Enid Rolanda Gambier was born in 1875.