| The late Sir Oliver Millar, Surveyor of the Queens Pictures, contributed much to our current understanding of the work of John Weesop. Until his research was published in 2001 the commonly held view was based on remarks by William Sykes, a painter, to the diarist George Vertue recorded between 1713 and 1721, that a painter called ‘Wesop’ or ‘Weesep’ “came here in the time of Vandyke 1641 liv’d here till 1649, then went away, but said he would never stay in a country, where they cut of their kings head in the face of all the world & was not asham’d of the action”. Millar’s documentary evidence shows that a John Weesop was still living, and presumably working, in London in 1653, whilst a reference to only a Mrs Weesop later that year may suggest that the painter died before 1654.
Weesop’s royalist sympathies may not have been exaggerated, however, as the small body of work attributable to the painter and of known sitters is associated exclusively with staunchly royalist patrons. The Jermyn family was famously associated with the monarchy through Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans (1605-1684), devoted servant and protector of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. Thomas Jermyn, the Earl’s nephew, was therefore a typical commission for Weesop, who painted this portrait sometime around 1653.
Thomas Jermyn was the second, but first surviving son of Thomas Jermyn (1604-1659) and Rebecca (d. 1694), daughter of William Rodway, merchant of London. He married Mary Merry in 1659 two years before taking a commission as a Captain in the garrison on Jersey which he held until 1679. He was Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey 1661-1679 and in 1684 succeeded his uncle as Governor and also his peerage as 2nd Baron Jermyn under a special remainder, although the estates were divided with his brother Henry, a Roman Catholic who was created Lord Dover by James II. He was M.P. for Bury St. Edmunds 1679 and 1681 and supported the Glorious Revolution, which no doubt brought him in direct conflict with his brother. He died at his house in Westminster in 1703 the last of his family to sit in Parliament.
The painting would appear always to have been at Rushbrooke Hall, the Jermyn family seat, and was probably commissioned either by the sitter’s father or Henry, Earl of St.Albans. The Earl stated in his will that all items at Rushbrooke noted in the inventory of 1674, when he took up residence, should remain after his death and on no account “be removed from thence and that the said house may never bee thereof disfurnished”. On the death of Thomas 2nd baron Jermyn in 1703 Rushbrooke passed to the husband of the eldest daughter, Sir Robert Davers in whose family it was to remain until 1806 when by amicable arrangement the house passed to Colonel Robert Rushbrooke, a descendent of the ancient possessors of the estate, who had married into the Davers family. The portrait remained at the Hall during this time and was noted as hanging in the dining room in the inventory of 1759 and “over the great staircase” in 1908. The house was sold in 1919 to Lord Islington and the contents went to auction on 10th December that year when this painting was sold as ‘lot 104 Van Dyke School’. Bought by the Oakes family of Nowton Court it remained in their possession for a further ninety years.
Some confusion has existed over the years as to the identity of the sitter, with the inventory of 1759 suggesting it was the Stuart Courtier Baptist May. By this time no direct family connection to the Hall existed to correct this misgiving and as such it persisted until Sir Lionel Cust, Director of the National Portrait Gallery observed the painting in 1908. The date of the portrait, the youthfulness and physiognomy of the sitter which is so close to that of his brother, together with information gleaned from the full listing of portraits at Rushbrooke Hall all indicates that this is an image of the young Thomas. Executed on wood panel the painting is similar in size and format to known works in the collections at Powis Castle and Lacock Abbey. In composition it copies the head and shoulders pose of the right hand figure in ‘Lord Grandison and Mr Villiers’ (Collection of the Duke of Buccleuch, on loan to the Government Art Collection). Weesop tended to repeat postures that he obviously found pleasing and worked well compositionally. Sir Oliver Millar compares his style to both Van Dyke and William Dobson and further suggests that he “could for a brief period have presented something of a challenge to Lely, Hayles or Soest”. Although the prime influence in his work must be Van Dyck, Weesop emerges as a master of considerable independence. He is a supreme colourist, clearly evident in the present portrait in the rendering of the magnificent gold laced sleeves of the coat and the russet sash set against the deep blue evening sky. This together with the general flamboyance and confidence with which this portrait is painted clearly marks Weesop as a considerable artistic talent, all but ignored until recent years
Literature & Principal References:
Rev. Edmund Farrer ‘Portraits in Suffolk Houses (West)’, 1908. p. 290-307 portrait listed no. 57
Sydenham H. A. Hervey ‘Rushbrook Parish Registers 1567-1850’, 1903
Basil Duke Henning ‘The House of Commons 1660-1690’, 1983
Country Life ‘Rushbrooke Hall’, Oct. 17th 1903
Anthony Adolph ‘Full of Soup and Gold – The Life of Henry Jermyn’, 2006
Oliver Miller ‘Weesop: Flesh on a Skeleton’, The Burlington Magazine, Oct. 2001
With thanks to Philippa Martin, Curator, Government Art Collection, for her assistance |
