Sir Andrew Fountaine
Jonathan Richardson, the elder·c. 1710
Historical Context
Jonathan Richardson the Elder painted this portrait of Sir Andrew Fountaine around 1710, depicting one of the greatest English art collectors and connoisseurs of the early eighteenth century. Richardson was both a painter and an influential art theorist whose writings on connoisseurship helped shape English taste. Fountaine, who served as Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Caroline, assembled important collections of paintings, bronzes, and majolica at his Norfolk estate.
Technical Analysis
Richardson renders the connoisseur with the dignified, restrained technique characteristic of Queen Anne-era portraiture. The careful modeling of the face and the subdued palette reflect his position as one of the leading portraitists between Kneller and Reynolds.
Provenance
Probably Richard Gipps (died 1743), West Harling Hall, Norfolk. Sir Edmund Nugent, Bt. (died 1928), West Harling Hall, Norfolk by 1908 [Duleep Singh 1927 descibed it as a portrait of Sir Andrew Fountaine attributed to Richardson]; the portrait, which had been extended on all sides and installed within a carved chimneypiece, passed with the house to the Government Forestry Commission [according to a letter dated 5 December 1933 from Frank Surgey to Bessie Bennett in curatorial file, Department of European Decorative Arts]. Acton, Surgey, London by 1931 [letter cited above and Connoisseur 1931]; sold with the chimneypiece to the Antiquarian Society for presentation to the Art Institute, 1933 (added strips removed from the painting in 1964/65 conservation treatment).
