This triptych represents the most important work in the collection. The centre panel depicts Margaret Russell, Countess of Cumberland with George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland and their two sons standing in an apartment. The wings show portraits of Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, one with a dog (right side illustrated here) and one with a lute at her feet. Lady Anne Clifford was brought up in Elizabethan court circles, married the Earls of Dorset and Pembroke and was much involved in the revival of chivalry and classicism. Deprived of her inheritance of the family estates in 1605, she regained them in 1643 when the male heirs of her uncle died out. The portraits show her descendants and relations by marriage.

Provenance

Lady Anne Clifford, daughter of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland; Michael Tollemache Ltd.