867326

Portrait of an Elegant Lady Thought to be Nell #867326

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:0.00 USD
Portrait of an Elegant Lady Thought to be Nell #867326
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Though it is over 330 years since she sold oranges to audiences at the King's Theatre in London, then became the most popular actress in England and finally the mistress of King Charles II, Nell Gwyn's name is still familiar to most people - and it can only be because of a personality which was delightful in every way: 'pretty, witty Nell', as Pepys called her, charmed not only the King but his subjects - who cordially disliked most of his other mistresses, in particular the Catholic Frenchwoman Louise de Keroualle. When crowds booed Nell's carriage, thinking she was Louise, she leaned out of the window and called 'I am the Protestant whore!'

She was never ashamed of her position, and never ceased to delight the King - who grew very bored indeed with Louise, and with his earlier mistress Barbara Villiers. And she never attempted, as they did, to interfere in politics. The King was greatly relieved - though he was a master politician, he tried hard to keep state affairs separate from his private life- to which he gave a great deal of time and energy, with the help of his pimp-in-ordinary, a Mr Chiffinch, who arranged the schedule by which his mistresses moved in and out of his palace at Whitehall.

I
Charles had 13 children by these 'ladies' and agreed to support the children he believed were his. He had doubts about some of Lady Castlemaine's children as he had caught her in a compromising position with John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough! Lady Castlemaine's last child, ...
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#: 2747</td>
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<tr><td>Condition:good overal condition</td></tr>
<tr><td>Year:C.1655</td></tr>
<tr><td>Country:UK</td></tr>
<tr><td>Maker:Studio of Sir Peter Lely</td></tr>
<tr><td>Height:30.0</td></tr>

<tr><td>Width:25.0</td></tr>

<tr><td>Title:Portrait of an Elegant Lady Thought to be Nell</td></tr>
<tr><td>Style:Traditional</td></tr>
<tr><td>Materials:Oil on Canvas</td></tr>
<tr><td>Type:Oil on Canvas</td></tr>
<tr><td>Location:london uk</td></tr>
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