19TH CENTURY BRITISH SCHOOL
FULL LENGTH PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM KING-NOEL, 1ST EARL OF LOVELACE
£5,000
Auction: 20 November 2019 from 10:00 GMT
Description
Indistinctly signed, oil on canvas, unframed
Dimensions
218cm x 134cm (86in x 52.75in)
Footnote
Provenance: The estate of the late 5th Earl of Lovelace
Note:
William, 1st Earl of Lovelace was a significant figure in the family history. He entered the diplomatic service and became secretary to Lord Nugent, Lord Commissioner of the Ionian islands. At the age of twenty-eight, on the death of his father, and now Lord King, William returned to Ockham where two years later he married Augusta Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, the celebrated poet. His wife Ada was a significant figure in her own right. She had been a child prodigy able to tackle geometry and mathematics, play the violin and guitar and fluent in several languages by the age of ten. Sadly, the marriage did not last and William embarked on the architectural works in polychrome bricks for which he is best known. It was William who added the foothold in Torridon to the family's estates. He was Lord Lieutenant of the County of Surrey from 1840 until his death in 1893.