Lot 108: Martin Maingaud Active in Paris 1692 - 1725 , Portrait of Lord George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney (1666-1737) oil on canvas, in a carved wood frame

Signed on reverse: Pinxit/ Maingaud 1724 oil on canvas, in a carved wood frame

125 by 99 cm.

J. Molthan, Verzeichniss der Bildhauerwerke und Gemälde welche sich in den Königlich Hannoverschen Schlössern und Gebäuden, Hanover 1844, p.100, no.9

Fideikommiss-Galerie 1905;
Brunswick sale, Berlin, Cassirer and Helbing, 27-28 April 1926, lot 94, when presumably unsold or bought back;
Blankenburg circa 1929, inv. no. 0009;
Sale, Hanover, Sotheby's, 6 October 2005, lot 413.

The sitter was the son of William Douglas, 3rd Duke of Hamilton and his wife, Anne Hamilton. By the age of eighteen he held the rank of Captain in the Royal Scots, 1st Regiment of Foot, and went on to have a remarkable military career being promoted to Brigadier-General in 1695. On 3rd January 1696 he was raised to the peerage with the Scottish titles of Earl of Orkney, Viscount Kirkwall, and Lord Dechmont. Almost always in the military shadow of the Duke of Marlborough, he nevertheless proved himself as one of the most able commanders of his age. He fought in all four major battles of the War of the Spanish Succession: Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet, distinguishing himself in each. On 25th November 1695 he married Elizabeth Villiers, the daughter of Sir Edward Villiers and the sister of the first Earl of Jersey. Lady Orkney was regarded as one of the most engaging women of her age. Johnathan Swift described her as the 'wisest woman' he had ever met. Orkney's active military service came to an end in 1712 and he dedicated himself to political life. He found favour during the reigns of both Queen Anne and King George I, and was a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King George as well as Governor of Edinburgh Castle. Another version of this portrait by Maingaud is at Lennoxlove in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton.