After decades apart, a young honeymooning couple have been reunited – their portraits lovingly restored and now displayed together at Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, home of the Bedingfeld family for 500 years.
After their marriage, Thomas Molyneux-Seel and Agnes Bedingfeld spent a lengthy honeymoon of more than a year in Europe in 1823-24, a mini-Grand Tour, which included their commission of several artworks. Among these was a pair of portraits of the couple by neo-classical artist Ferdinando Cavalleri.
The portraits passed down the Molyneux-Seel family line until their descendants lent, and later bequeathed, them to the National Trust in the 1970s. For nearly fifty years, Thomas’ likeness hung proudly in Oxburgh’s library, while Agnes’ portrait, unframed and in poor condition, languished in the attic hidden from view. What is a mystery, however, is why the two were separated and why Agnes’ portrait was missing its frame which over time made it more susceptible to damage.
That changed in 2023 when the team at Oxburgh secured a grant from The Royal Oak Foundation, enabling a remarkable conservation project. Not only were both portraits restored, but a brand-new frame was commissioned for Agnes using centuries-old techniques now listed on the Heritage Crafts Red List of Endangered Crafts.[1]
Julieta Herrera, a graduate of City & Guilds of London Art School, was invited to join the project at the Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio at Knole as an apprentice to repair Thomas’ frame and create a new one for Agnes. Julieta worked under the guidance of the Studio’s Senior Frames Conservator, Gerry Alabone.
Julieta explains “I began with research on early 19th-century frames to gather design ideas. We decided on a Rococo style, incorporating asymmetric ornaments to highlight Agnes’ portrait.”
The frame-making process involved the use of antique hand-carved hardwood moulds, generously loaned by bespoke frame making company Joseph McCarthy Ltd. By employing traditional composition frame-making techniques -a craft at risk of disappearing, the project not only produced a historically sensitive finished frame but also helped preserve specialist knowledge for future generations. [2]
Restoration of the paintings themselves required painstaking work in the Conservation Studio, including the cleaning and repair of several small tears in the canvas of the portrait of Agnes.
To celebrate their return to Oxburgh, the portraits of Agnes and Thomas will take centre stage in a new exhibition ‘A Regency Romance’ which explores the language of love during the era and their relationship through extracts from letters, diaries and collection objects, including a pair of miniature portraits of the couple painted shortly after their engagement and a set of decanters and glasses that they purchased on honeymoon. [3].
National Trust House and Collections Manager at Oxburgh, Ilana Van Dort, adds: “The courtship of the Molyneux-Seels offers an opportunity to explore a bygone age of etiquette, elegance and a somewhat transactional approach to romance. The involvement and influence of friends and family in the burgeoning relationship shows that Regency-era romance was by no means a private affair and that love was often just one of many considerations.
“Thanks to the dedication of the Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio and the revival of endangered crafts, Agnes’ portrait will be on public view for the very first time – reunited with Thomas.”
A Regency Romance exhibition, celebrating the long-awaited return of the two portraits, opens on Saturday 17 January.
Find out more about Oxburgh Estate at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/oxburgh-estate
Oxburgh Hall is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 17 January and daily from Saturday 14 February, from 10.30am – 3pm (last entry at 2.15pm).
