Portrait of Sir Thomas Tipping, 1st Bt. (1653-1718), three-quarter-length, in a russet jacket and cloak

Details

ATTRIBUTED TO SIR GODFREY KNELLER (LÜBECK 1646-1723 LONDON)
Portrait of Sir Thomas Tipping, 1st Bt. (1653-1718), three-quarter-length, in a russet jacket and cloak
oil on canvas
49 5⁄8 x 40 1⁄8 in. (126 x 102 cm.)
inscribed 'S.^r Thomas Tipping Bar.^t / Wheatfield Co. Oxon.' (lower left)

Please note that 100% of the hammer proceeds from this auction will be paid to the Sandys Trust, registered charity number: 1168357, with the exception of limited deductions towards sale costs across the auction which cannot be accurately calculated at this time, capped at a total of £10,000.

Provenance

(Presumably) by descent to the sitter's daughter,
Letitia Tipping (1699-1779), wife of Samuel, 1st Baron Sandys (1695-1770), and by descent to their son,
Edwin Sandys, 2nd Baron Sandys (1726-1797), and by inheritance to his niece,
Mary, Marchioness of Downshire and 1st Baroness Sandys (1764-1836), and by descent to her second son,
Lieutenant-General Arthur Hill, 2nd Baron Sandys (1792-1860), and by inheritance to his younger brother,
Arthur Marcus Sandys, 3rd Baron Sandys (1798-1863), and by descent to,
Richard Hill, 7th Baron Sandys (1931-2013), Ombersley Court, Worcestershire.

Literature

J. Grego, Inventory of Pictures: Portraits, Paintings, etc., Ombersley MS., 1905, where listed in the Grand Staircase.
ONM / 1 / 2 / 7, journal entry for a visit to Ombersley Court, 25 August 1950, Oliver Millar Archive, Paul Mellon Centre, London, p. 25.
Ombersley Court Inventory, June 1963, annotated Ombersley MS., where listed in the Alcove in the Hall.
Ombersley Court Catalogue of Pictures, undated, Ombersley MS., p. 38, where listed in the Main Staircase.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Adrian Hume-Sayer Director, Specialist

Lot Essay

The sitter was the son of Sir Thomas Tipping (see lot 123) and Elizabeth Beconshaw. From 1669, he studied at Trinity College, Oxford, followed by Lincoln's Inn in 1672. When Oliver Millar saw the painting in 1950, he called it 'probably Kneller of about 1680-85' (Millar, op. cit., p. 25). Around the same time, in 1685, Tipping was elected MP for Oxfordshire and he subsequently represented Wallingford from 1689-1701, becoming well-known for his Whig views. In 1698, Tipping was made a baronet by the King, and in the same year married Anne Cheke (see lot 99), daughter of Thomas Cheke (see lot 43). They had three children, including Letitia (see lot 101), who married Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys, of Ombersley Court. Tipping's personal life and reputation were not highly regarded; after attempting to marry off a ward to a prostitute, he was forced to seek exile in the Netherlands, returning with William of Orange's fleet in 1688. Spiralling family finances and a coarse lifestyle may have contributed to Tipping's downfall; he probably died in prison, heavily in debt.

More from Ombersley Court: The Collection of Lord and Lady Sandys

View All