Chorley’s Auctioneers has announced that it will offer works from the private collection of the 3rd Earl of Liverpool, Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson for auction…
The Charles Cecil Cope collection was once housed at the family seats of Pitchford Hall, Shropshire and Buxted Park, East Sussex. This extraordinary collection gives a snapshot of the relationships and a line of descent through a noble family – as well as several interconnected 18th and 19th Century families and ancestors. The sale comprises a quintessential English collection of family portraits with impeccable provenance, alongside Georgian furniture, porcelain, silver and enamel boxes.
It will be offered in a special auction titled: A Political Inheritance, Contents of a Cotswold Country House on April 23, 2024.
The 3rd Earl of Liverpool, Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson was the younger son of Charles Jenkinson, the 1st Earl of Liverpool. The 1st Earl held various political posts for a period of forty years, was a confidante of George II and was one of the architects of the Stamp Act that led to the Boston Tea Party and ultimately American independence.
Thomas Jennerfust, Director at Chorley’s:
“It is unusual to find such an extensive group of related portraits. These paintings have remained in the same family since they were commissioned and are therefore truly fresh to the market.”
The highlights include several portraits by George Romney (1734-1802), perhaps the most fashionable portraitist of his day. One depicts Sir George Augustus William Shuckburgh-Evelyn, 6th Bt. (1751-1804), whose abiding interest was in in astronomy. As a result of his work in this area, one of the craters of the moon is named after him. The portrait portrays him seated in a dark blue coat with a white cravat, holding a thermometer and with an armillary sphere in view. In oil on canvas, it carries an estimate of £6,000-£8,000.
His wife Julia Annabelle, Lady Shuckburgh, (1756-1797), was also painted by Romney just after her marriage. The portrait, capturing her in a white dress and large hat, is also offered in this sale at £20,000-£30,000. A group portrait of the 3rd Earl’s three daughters – Lady Catherine (1811-1877), Lady Selina (1812-1883) and Lady Louisa (1814- 1887), is also in the sale. They are captured in white gowns playing with a dog by the British artist George Henry Harlow (1787-1819) and carry an estimate of £8,000-£12,000.
Elsewhere is a French ormolu-mounted Sèvres porcelain garniture, or mantel clock from the third quarter 19th century, in Louis XVI style. Highly decorative with inset panels of figures at a gaming table in a wooded landscape, it is mounted on an urn shaped base and two pot-pourri vases and covers. It carries an estimate of £1,000-£1,500. A large Chinese blue and white ceramic circular fish bowl from the late 18th century is painted inside with numerous pavilions in a mountainous landscape and decorated on the outside with flowering branches. It has an estimate of £1,000-£1,500.
Royal gifts to the family will go under the hammer, such as a portrait of the 3rd Earl given to his eldest daughter, Lady Catherine Julia Harcourt née Jenkinson (1811-1877) by Queen Victoria a year after his death. The Earl had been friends with Victoria as a young princess and later served as Lord Steward of the royal Household. The Queen had visited Pitchford Hall and Buxted Park on several occasions and the gift of the portrait would have been a comfort to the Earls’ daughter, who she also knew well. The portrait of the 3rd Earl in a black coat with white cravat is by a follower of Franz Xavier Winterhalter. In oil on canvas, it carries an estimate of £600-£800.
