King Charles II Oil Portrait After Sir Peter Lely, Circa 1850
English School, Mid-19th Century
King Charles II Wearing Armour and the Garter Badge, c.1850
Victorian Oil Portrait on Canvas After Sir Peter Lely
Highlights
• Mid-nineteenth-century English royal portrait in oil on canvas.
• Represents King Charles II in armour and a white cravat.
• Features an insignia associated with the Order of the Garter.
• Derived from a recognised court portrait type established by Sir Peter Lely.
• Atmospheric Victorian interpretation of Restoration royal imagery.
• Named provenance from the Christopher and Susan Kevill-Davies Collection.
• Collection label and inventory number 139 remain attached verso.
• Documented through Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, in March 2026.
• Subsequently privately loaned for display in Shropshire.
• Original frame recently refreshed with a gold-painted finish.
Introduction
A characterful English School oil portrait of King Charles II, painted circa 1850 after a celebrated Restoration portrait type associated with Sir Peter Lely.
The King appears in armour with a full periwig and crisply illuminated white cravat. A pendant insignia worn across the breastplate appears to depict St George and the Dragon, identifying Charles as Sovereign of the Order of the Garter.
The anonymous Victorian painter has retained the courtly dignity of the seventeenth-century prototype while adopting a darker and more intimate tonal approach. The face emerges from a subdued background through warm flesh colour and gentle modelling, while carefully positioned highlights define the armour and cravat.
With its named collection provenance, established auction history and traditional presentation, the painting offers an evocative connection between Victorian historical collecting and the visual culture of the Restoration monarchy.
Catalogue Details
Artist: English School
Date: Circa 1850
Period: Victorian
Title: King Charles II Wearing Armour and the Garter Badge
Medium: Oil on canvas
Source: After an established portrait type by Sir Peter Lely
Signature: Unsigned
Sitter: Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland
Format: Quarter-length portrait
Frame: Original frame with later gold overpainting
Labels: Kevill-Davies collection label and inventory number 139 verso
Catalogue Note
Charles II is portrayed at quarter length, wearing armour beneath a white cravat and framed by the dark curls of his characteristic full-bottomed wig.
His head is turned slightly to one side, and his calm outward gaze conveys the measured confidence associated with formal royal portraiture. The painting avoids overt theatricality, concentrating instead upon the King’s face, dress and insignia.
A pendant suspended against the breastplate appears to show St George overcoming the dragon. This badge formed an important component of the insignia of the Order of the Garter, of which the monarch served as sovereign.
Deep brown and black passages dominate the composition, creating a restrained visual setting from which the warmer facial tones and pale cravat emerge. Thinly painted shadows are balanced by broader highlights across the forehead, cheeks and metal breastplate.
The composition relates closely to the portrait type of Charles II developed by Sir Peter Lely around 1675. Versions recorded in institutional collections depict the King with a black wig, lace cravat, breastplate and the badge of St George.
The present painting is a later Victorian interpretation and should be viewed within the nineteenth-century tradition of copying and reimagining significant British historical portraits.
Victorian Royal Revival
The nineteenth century witnessed an extensive revival of interest in Britain’s royal, aristocratic and architectural history.
Collectors furnished houses with paintings and objects that evoked earlier historical periods. Portraits of monarchs were especially desirable because they provided both decorative presence and an immediate connection with the national past.
The Stuart period held particular appeal. Its political upheavals, court culture, fashions and personalities offered a rich source of inspiration for artists, writers and antiquarians.
Later versions after Lely allowed Victorian collectors to acquire recognisable images of Restoration royalty without the cost or rarity associated with seventeenth-century studio paintings.
The present work reflects this culture of historical reinterpretation. Its subject and composition recall Charles II’s restored court, while its painting technique and tonal character belong to the nineteenth century in which it was produced.
The Sitter
Charles II was born in 1630 at St James’s Palace, the son of Charles I and his French queen, Henrietta Maria.
The English Civil Wars forced the young prince into exile, and his father’s execution in 1649 transformed him into the principal focus of the Royalist cause.
Charles was proclaimed king by supporters and crowned in Scotland in 1651. His subsequent attempt to regain the English throne ended in defeat at Worcester, followed by a celebrated escape from Parliamentary forces.
He remained in continental Europe until political circumstances permitted the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. His return was followed by a revival of royal ceremony, theatre, scientific enquiry and court patronage.
Charles’s reign also encompassed severe national crises. The Great Plague struck London in 1665, followed by the Great Fire the following year. Political conflict intensified later in the reign through disputes concerning religion, succession and the powers of the Crown.
The Order of the Garter was an important element of Charles’s royal identity. Founded during the reign of Edward III, it represented continuity, chivalric honour and the historic authority of the monarchy.
Charles died in 1685. Although he left no legitimate children, several acknowledged descendants became established within the British aristocracy.
The Artist
Sir Peter Lely was born Pieter van der Faes in 1618 and trained in the Netherlands before establishing his career in England.
He succeeded to the position of Principal Painter at the restored court of Charles II and became the leading portraitist of Restoration society.
Lely’s portraits combined the influence of Van Dyck with his own refined treatment of flesh, drapery and aristocratic pose. His studio created numerous versions of successful royal compositions to satisfy demand from courtiers, institutions and loyal supporters of the Crown.
His images of Charles II became definitive. They established the monarch’s familiar visual identity through the use of armour, Garter insignia, ceremonial robes and the distinctive full periwig.
Lely’s compositions continued to be copied throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The present unsigned work was produced approximately 170 years after the original portrait type and is correctly catalogued as a Victorian painting after Lely.
Provenance
Christopher and Susan “Sally” Kevill-Davies Collection, United Kingdom.
Bearing the collection label verso and handwritten inventory number 139.
Subsequently entering the United Kingdom art trade.
Offered by Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, in its Old Masters, British & European Paintings auction on 3 March 2026, where it was catalogued as English School, Portrait of King Charles II, quarter length, wearing armour and a cravat.
Subsequently curated by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD.
Privately loaned for display to the Shropshire-based dealership known as Famous Lord Hill Museum.
The numbered Kevill-Davies label indicates that the portrait formed part of a systematically recorded private collection of antiques and historic works of art.
Dimensions
Canvas Size:
62 cm high × 52 cm wide
Framed Size:
71.5 cm high × 61 cm wide × 2 cm deep
Orientation: Portrait
Condition Report
The painting remains stable and suitable for immediate display.
The canvas is mounted upon a stretcher and appears structurally sound. Age-related wear includes areas of thin paint, scattered small losses and historic retouching, most noticeably within darker sections of the composition.
A network of fine craquelure is present throughout the painted surface. The varnish has become slightly dull and uneven with age. Careful professional cleaning may improve clarity, although any treatment should be preceded by examination from a qualified paintings conservator.
The face, white cravat and central details remain comparatively well preserved and retain strong visual impact.
The original frame has recently been overpainted in gold, creating a more consistent overall presentation. Areas of historic wear, small losses and surface unevenness remain apparent beneath the later coating. The frame is structurally stable and fit for hanging.
Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an integral part of the condition report. Further photographs and information can be supplied upon request.
Shipping
Worldwide shipping is available.
The painting will be professionally packed using materials appropriate for its antique canvas and frame. Delivery will be fully insured for transit, with tracking provided where available.
Please contact us for an individual international shipping quotation or to discuss secure collection arrangements.
Attribution & Research Notice
The historical observations, provenance research, sitter identification and contextual commentary presented within this catalogue entry represent the professional, non-guaranteed opinion of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®. They are offered in good faith as informed scholarly assessments based upon the available evidence, comparative research, published reference material, museum collection records, auction history and professional experience within the international fine art market.
These observations should be understood as professional opinions rather than definitive statements of fact or guarantees of authorship, attribution, date, origin, provenance or historical interpretation. As with all historic works of art, future documentary discoveries, technical examination, conservation analysis or advances in academic research may refine, expand or revise current interpretations.
The painting is catalogued as English School, circa 1850, after Sir Peter Lely. It is not represented as having been painted by Lely, his studio or his seventeenth-century circle. The identification of the sitter and portrait source is based upon comparison with established institutional versions depicting Charles II in a breastplate, white cravat and Garter insignia. The title King Charles II Wearing Armour and the Garter Badge is a modern descriptive market title and may not represent an original title historically attached to the work.
Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®
Specialising in carefully curated British and European fine art, antiques and historic works of art. Every artwork is professionally researched and catalogued using comparative scholarship, published reference material and more than two decades of experience within the international fine art market. We are committed to offering collectors works of artistic and historical merit accompanied by transparent provenance research, detailed catalogue descriptions and professional, client-focused service.
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