398. GEORGE KNAPTON (1698-1778). PORTRAITS OF THE REV. THOMAS CURTEIS (1706-1775), KENT CLERGYMAN; AND OF HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH (nee PAPILLON) (1720-1786).

A pair, he quarter length, wearing a dark grey coat, black waistcoat and curly wig, within a painted oval; she quarter length, wearing an ivory dress with a blue bow and a pink mantle, within a painted oval, she signed and dated `Knapton/ pinxit/ 1749`, oil on canvas, period carved wood frames (with some damages)
Each 74.5 x 62cm. approx. (2)

* Thomas Curteis was ordained priest in 1739. He was domestic chaplain for Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart in 1750; and, later, for Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset, until 1775. After serving as Prebendary at Canterbury Cathedral, he settled back into parish life near Sevenoaks. His first wife (nee Austen) bore him two children but she died before 1743. His second marriage later that same year was blessed with five daughters and a son. The son, Thomas, followed his father into the clergy.

The identification of the Rev. Curteis is determined by an old handwritten label on the back of the frame.