Lot Essay
The portrait by Sir Peter Lely in the National Portrait Gallery is in the opposite direction and it seems, therefore, that this pastel was made from an engraving (for the three-quarter-length portrait by Lely (private collection), painted in the early 1660s, see Sir Peter Lely, exhibition catalogue, National Portrait Gallery, November 1978 - March 1979, no.36, illustrated).
Sir William Temple (1628-1699) was particularly distinguished for his diplomatic services in the Low Countries, achieving the Triple Alliance against France in 1668 and becoming an important adviser to the future William III from 1681 onwards. He is also famous for his prolonged correspondence with Dorothy Osborne leading up to their marriage in 1654. He also wrote poems, essays and a history of England, and was an early patron of Jonathan Swift.
Sir William Temple (1628-1699) was particularly distinguished for his diplomatic services in the Low Countries, achieving the Triple Alliance against France in 1668 and becoming an important adviser to the future William III from 1681 onwards. He is also famous for his prolonged correspondence with Dorothy Osborne leading up to their marriage in 1654. He also wrote poems, essays and a history of England, and was an early patron of Jonathan Swift.