Lot 49: JOHANN ANTON EISMANN (1604-1698) A Portrait of a

JOHANN ANTON EISMANN (1604-1698) A Portrait of a Young Man, three-quarter length, in a black costume with a lace ruff, crimson tied ribbons and an attendant spaniel Oil on panel, 79 x 81cm A partial signature of the artist survives which has long been read as J A Eismann. Provenance: Malahide Castle, where in the 1835 Trinity College manuscript inventory, now in Trinity College, it was listed amongst the pictures; The estate of Tony Sweeney The Talbot de Malahide family had the largest collection of Irish family portraits to survive into the 20th century and on the eve of the 1976 auction all those that were firmly identifiable were acquired by the state and continue to hang in the Castle which is cared for by the Fingal County Council. This one, lacking a name to put on the sitter was however sold by Keane Mahony Smith and Christies, Manson & Woods Ltd (catalogue number 497 and plate number 54). It was subsequently acquired from Ronnie McDonnell, Dublin who offered one suggestion regarding the boy's identity, namely that he was a younger brother to the Earl of Westmeath.