History works in mysterious and wonderful ways. The Hammond-Harwood House has a portrait of Philip Yorke, the 1st Earl of Hardwicke, that descended in his family to Susan Amelia Yorke Hambro (pictured above) and was eventually sold at auction. Mrs. Clifford Hendrix, a former director of the Hammond-Harwood House, purchased it at the sale and later generously donated it to us, so the Earl now hangs proudly in our large parlor. Imagine my surprise when the blog of the British National Trust features a post on their portrait of the same man! I immediately commented on it, and received an e-mail from Emile de Bruijn, a Registrar for the Trust and the blog’s author. We traded information on our Yorke portraits and he has written an excellent summary of their histories. Please go read all about our portrait of the Earl and his English twin!
