A new world record for a work by Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757), the pioneering Venetian pastellist, was set at Cheffins in Cambridge on 17th September when her portrait of Coulson Fellowes (1696-1775) achieved £508,000.
The work has come to the market for the first time since it was painted 301 years ago and shows Coulson Fellowes as a young man of 28 who would later go on to become the Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire. Sold to a private UK based collector on the telephone, the piece saw a protracted battle from a host of UK and international bidders.
The head and shoulders depiction was made in 1724 and recorded in the artist’s diary when Fellowes visited her Venetian studio on the Grand Tour during the years of 1723 and 1725. Carriera was one of the most fashionable artists of her day and known to have created portraits of many notable figures, her sitters including Louis XV of France, Horace Walpole and Antoine Watteau. The previous record for a painting by the artist was £421,250 for a portrait of Gustavus Hamilton which was sold in New York in 2002.
Luke Bodalbhai, paintings specialist at Cheffins comments: “This was a particularly elegant study by Rosalba and really exhibited her talent as one of the leading lights of 18th century portraiture. The piece was fascinating in that it had been created by one of the most interesting artists of the period, but also during some of the most pivotal years for British and European art and travel. As one of the first women to achieve international fame in portraiture, Carriera remains a trailblazer in art history, and it was a privilege to be able to offer this important work to the market for the first time.”
Coulson Fellowes was the son of the barrister William Fellowes of Eggesford, Devon, and, on his father’s death in 1725 inherited Eggesford Manor. An English landowner and politician, Fellowes became the Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire, the constituency he represented between 1741 and 1761. In 1737 he acquired Ramsey Abbey and would later become one of the major donors to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, alongside Dr John Addenbrooke. The portrait was later included within the Fellowes’ family collection at Shotesham Park in Norfolk until the sale of the house and estate following the death of Major Charles Fellowes in 1979 but remained in the family, being offered for sale now for the first time since its execution.
Throughout the early 1720s, Rosalba Carriera’s popularity in England flourished as a result of numerous portraits returning with British aristocrats and members of landed families from the Grand Tour. She wrote to the French painter and director of the French Academy in Rome, Nicolas Vleughels, in 1721 that she had been ‘attaqué par des Angles’. From 1723, Carriera’s diary also records several commissions from Joseph Smith, the British Consul in Venice, who quite possibly introduced her to Fellowes in his role as a great patron of painters.
Luke Bodalbhai continues, “the execution this piece followed the artist’s significant stay in Paris from 1719 to 1720, a stay which confirmed her success as a pioneering portrait painter. In Paris, Rosalba was a guest of Pierre Crozat, the King’s treasurer, and met Rigaud, Largillière, Watteau and other artists and connoisseurs, becoming greatly admired by the aristocracy and the court. This work exhibits the spontaneity, directness and intimacy which propelled Rosalba to international stardom at the beginning of the 18th century. Her close relationship with Watteau reflects Rosalba’s adoption of a typically rococo spirit, conducive to being captured in pastel, which became the key to her renown.”
Works by Rosalba Carriera are currently held in The Louvre, The National Gallery, The Frick Collection and other major galleries and institutions worldwide.
The painting carried a pre-sale estimate of £15,000 - £25,000.
Prices reported are inclusive of buyers’ premium and VAT.
Auction: The Fine Sale – 17th September 2025
Location: Cheffins, Clifton House, 1-2 Clifton Road, Cambridge, UK, CB1 7EA
For further information contact the Fine Art Department on 01223 213343, fine.art@cheffins.co.uk