Master AB English painter (ca. 1588)

PORTRAIT OF R. BAKER (label affixed to rear of panel)

The parish records of 16th century East Anglia particularly those of County Kent note the births and deaths of many "R. Bakers". It is problematical, to say the least, to presume and then affix with absolute surety an identification for this sitter. The name of "Richard Baker" has been put forward for this honor by a party of American descendants of one Richard Baker who settled in Massachusetts in 1635. The identification of our "R Baker" as this Richard Baker rests chiefly on the word of these descendents who, as it happens, are the present owners of the panel (purchased at auction from Sotheby’s, August 29, 1957).

There are numerous "Richard Bakers" in County Kent who could have served as the artists subject. Most were of the Round Head (or Protestant) leaning and the plain garments of this Richard would seem to indicate a non-aristocratic or, at least, non- Cavalier affiliation. That would seem to make it most unlikely that we are looking at the "phiz" of Sir Richard Baker, author of the popular Chronicle of Kings of England from the Time of the Romans Government unto the Death of King James (1643), whose grandfather greeted Queen Elizabeth I as a guest at Castle Sissinghurst. To be sure, this Sir Richard died in Fleet Prison in 1645 at the age of 77, having been imprisoned for ten long years as a "debtor". The debts were those of his wife’s relatives but, alas, the laws of the time held him responsible. Sir Richard made good use of the prison years which concluded his life for it is during his confinement to durance vile that he wrote much of his truly famous Chronicle as well as lengthy commentaries on the Book of Psalms. Perhaps, as a prisoner he would not be expected to dress in court finary. Anyway, one sample of the Commentaries may give us entree’ into the mind and hardy spirit of this author and our possible subject:

Psalm 116, verse 6. "I was brought low, and he helped me."

"We may truly say, God’s ways are not the ways of the world, for in the world when a man is once brought low, he is commonly trampled upon, and nothing is heard the but, ‘down with him, down to the ground.’ : but with God it is otherwise; for his delight is to raise up them that fall, and when they are brought low, then to help them. Hence it is no such hard case for a man to be brought low, may I not rather say his case is happy? For is it not better to be brought low, and have God to help him, than to be set aloft and left to help himself?" This commentary of Sir Richard’s appeared in a contemporary study of the Book of Psalms edited for the Internet by Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon.

As to the identity of our artist whose initials "AB" appear at the bottom of the panel, he may be the the Ambrose Bottleby whose portraits were said to be popular during the last decades of the sixteenth century in Chatham, Sissinghurst and other Kentish communities. Inasmuch as Sir Richard was born in Sissinghurst, an argument might be made for this identification. That would probably not please the present owners whose efforts to trace their lineage back

to the one sixteenth century Baker of note have not as of this writing born fruit. As to the identity of the artist, unfortunately no other panels attributed to "AB" have survived; possibly they were dispersed following the Restoration and consequent East Anglian emigrations to the New World.

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