"...this evil proceeds from thy proud hart then take her: Devill."
June 16 2021
Picture: Trevanion Auctioneers
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Shropshire based auction house Trevanion are leading their upcoming June sale with what must be one of the most curious mid-seventeenth-century British paintings to come onto the market in recent years.
Created in c.1650, when the country was in the midst of what might be described as a puritanical dictatorship, this moralising painting shows two women whose faces are decorated with black patches in the form of kabbalistic symbols. The extended catalogue note provided explains more about the various potential meanings.
Most curiously of all, the canvas bears the inscription 'I black with white bespott y white with blacke this evil proceeds from thy proud hart then take her: Devill'.
With 90 'watchers' and bids about to break through its top estimate of £4,000, this lot will be one to watch.
Update - The painting was sold for £220,000 (hammer price) to a telephone bidder. Let's wait and see if it ends up anywhere interesting...
