Sir John Astley

of Maidstone, Kent. Painted by an unknown artist in the 1630s, Sir John had been Master of the Revels to both King Charles I and his father James and by this time was an old man with grey hair as we can see. He wears a rather splendid white satin doublet that has been slashed or pinked in the body, sleeves and tabs. This was an old fashioned treatment, having been very popular in Tudor times, but I suppose Sir John was an old fashioned type of guy. A white ribbon has been tied where his sword belt should go with a red bow at the centre point. Strangely he is still wearing a sword, though with no visible means of suspension. Maybe it’s just resting against his leg. A very simple plain band and cuffs make up his linen and he has a contrasting pair of red breeches. The picture is under the care of the National Trust at Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland.

Portrait of a Family

Painting by William Dobson from around 1645, though it was probably finished by another artist after Dobson’s death. The painting is thought to be Richard Streatfield and his family. There are several pointers in the picture to indicate that the family had recently lost members, probably children. The skulls top right and the half clothed child bottom right suggest this, as does the bunch of cherries that the youngest child holds. The two adults are dressed in their best blacks, Richard in a doublet fashionably unfastened at the bottom and a plain band with decorative band strings around his collar. His wife in a black bodice with a lace edged coif, gathered cuffs to her smock and a complicated arrangement of linen around her shoulders fastened with black strings. The child on the left could be dressed in brown doublet and breeches with a cloak, or possibly a dress with hanging sleeves (to be used as leading reins) and plain linen. The smaller child in a kind of all-in-one garment with hanging sleeves and a matching cap. To see this painting you need to go to the Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

This detail shows the understated decoration of the linen on the two grown-ups.

And here the child in closer detail.