Wednesday 12 February 2020


ENOCH SEEMAN (BRITISH 1694-1745) 


PORTRAIT OF LADY MARGARET HERBERT (D. 1752).


with bust


Dreweatts Sale - 10 March 2020.
Lot 288
Continuing posts of sculptures depicted in other media.



Catalogue entry


Enoch Seeman (British 1694-1745) Portrait of Lady Margaret Herbert (d. 1752), daughter of Thomas, 8th Earl of Pembroke Oil on canvas 118 x 141cm (46¼ x 55½ in.)

Provenance: The Earl of Guilford Sale, Christie's, London, 21 November 1980, Lot 88

Literature: Waldershare Park catalogue, no. 188

Lady Margaret Herbert was one of twelve children to come from Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and 5th Earl of Montgomery's marriage to and his first wife Margaret Sawyer. Herbert, and English and later British statesman, was the third son of Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke (1621-1669) and Catharine Villiers. Upon the death of both his brothers, the 6th and 7th Earl respectively, and without the presence of an heir, Herbert succeeded to the earldoms in 1683. Sawyer in turn was the only child of Sir Robert Sawyer (1633-1687) and Margaret Suckeley. Sir Robert Sawyer was the Attorney General for England and Wales (1681-1687) and briefly speaker of the English House of Commons. After settling in Highclere, Hampshire, Sawyer built the house which preceded the present castle. Lady Margaret Herbert's brother, Robert Sawyer Herbert (1693-1769) went on to inherit Highclere Castle in 1706, when he succeeded to his mother's estates, inheriting Highclere from his maternal grandfather.

Enoch Seeman (1694-1745) was a Polish painter who travelled to England from his home in Flanders in 1704, with his father, Enoch Seeman the Elder. As a painter to the Royal Court the younger Seeman was commissioned to paint portraits of George I and George II, the latter now being held in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.