338. FOLLOWER OF FRANS POURBUS THE YOUNGER (1569-1622). PORTRAIT OF A NOBLEMAN OF THE VON ELVERFELDT FAMILY.

Standing, long half length, wearing a black brocaded tunic, with lace cuffs and a ruff collar, indistinctly inscribed, dated 1615, bears coat of arms upper left, oil on canvas, laid on Masonite
99 x 78cm.

Provenance: London Christies, October 24th 2012, lot 38 (as `Dutch School, 17th Century, Portrait of a Gentleman` but with a saleroom notice identifying the arms) ; Stowmarket, Eyton Court Collection, September 29th 2023, lot 454

* The coat-of-arms is that of the von Elverfeldt family of Westphalia. It has been suggested that the sitter could therefore be Henrich von Elverfeldt, who received the family estate from his brother, Wilhelm in 1614, which could explain the timing of the portrait. Heinrich would have been 48 in 1615.

An attribution to Gottfried von Wedig (1583-1641, alternatively known as Gotthardt de Wedig), who worked in Cologne, not far from the von Elverfeldt family estates, or to an artist in his close circle, has also been suggested.