Portrait of a Lady, traditionally believed to be Bridget Bertie (1629-1703/4), Duchess of Leeds, three quarter length, wearing an amber coloured silk gown, with an embroidered blue mantle, seated in an interior.

Oil on canvas in a 'Lely' panel frame with the Hornby Castle inventory number 60 attached to the reverse.

Oil on canvas, 126.4 x 102cm, (49¾ × 40 1/8 in.)

 The Hornby Castle 1898 catalogue of Pictures, lists inventory no. 60 as ‘Lady Bridget Bertie, daughter of the Earl of Lindsey, and wife of the first Duke of Leeds’, and as by ‘Sir Peter Lely’.

In the 1902 catalogue, the painting is recorded as located on the South staircase of Hornby Castle, and as ‘ Lady Bridget Bertie, wife of 1^st Duke of Leeds, 2^nd daughter of Montagu, 2^nd Earl of Lindsey, KG.’ , ‘by Sir Peter Lely’.

The painting sold at Christies in 2014, the sitter named as Bridget Bertie, Countess of Leeds, and as by Studio of Lely.

Bridget Bertie, Duchess of Leeds (1629-1704) was the daughter of Montague Bertie, second Earl of Lindsey. In 1653 she married Thomas Osborne of Kiveton, Yorkshire, (1632-1712), the first Duke of Leeds, politician and best known under his earlier titles of Earl of Danby and Marquess of Carmarthen. Together they had three sons and eight daughters including Edward (d.1689), the eldest son, Charles (d.1711) and Peregrine (d. 1729).

Peter Lely (1618-1680) was originally of dutch origin and became Principle Painter to the King in 1661, following in the footsteps of Van Dyck who had died in 1641. He dominated the portrait painting scene in England for over 20 years, creating a distinctive 'court look' in his work which had a strong influence on many other artists. He had an extremely successful and popular portrait practice which meant that he soon had to develop production methods that could accommodate the high demand for portraits, and also for copies and versions of them which were given as gifts to family and courtiers. The use of studio assistants was a common practice for busy artists and as with Van Dyck, Lely is known to have used specialist assistants to execute particular parts of his paintings. Artists who worked in Lely`s studio included John Baptist Gaspars who specialised in drapery painting, William Wissing, John Greenhill, Thomas Hawker and Joseph Buckshorn.