(Antwerp 1599–1641 London), workshop of ; Double portrait of the Essex Sisters: the Countess of Manchester and Lady Anne Rich (d. c. 1655), oil on canvas, 135 x 153 cm, framed,

Provenance: Earls of Winchilsea, Burley-on-the-Hill House; sale, Christie‘s, London, 20 June 1947, lot 91; sale, Christie‘s, London, 11 April 1974, lot 157; Belgian private collection.

Literature: S. Barnes, N. de Poorter, O. Millar, H. Vey, Van Dyck, A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven and London 2004, p. 583 (no. IV 198).

The two ladies depicted here were the daughters of Sir Thomas Cheeke, Bt. The present double portrait by Van Dyck‘s workshop is based on individual portraits of the two sisters (for the Portrait of the Countess of Manchester, private collection, comp. no. IV 160; for the Portrait of Lady Rich, private collection, comp. no. IV 198). Besides our painting, two further versions of this double portrait are known; one figured in the collection of the Dukes of Manchester at Kimbolton Castle, while the other was once in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and was sold at auction at Sotheby‘s, New York, on 7 November 1977.

Provenance: Earls of Winchilsea, Burley-on-the-Hill House; sale, Christie‘s, London, 20 June 1947, lot 91; sale, Christie‘s, London, 11 April 1974, lot 157; Belgian private collection. Literature: S. Barnes, N. de Poorter, O. Millar, H. Vey, Van Dyck,