Oval 7.1cm, on vellum, in a rectangular dark-stained fruitwood veneer frame. Signed and dated IH/1644.
Elizabeth Cecil was born into the Salisbury branch of the Cecil family, a daughter of the 2nd Earl and Countess of Salisbury. She married the 3rd Earl of Devonshire in 1639 and became a noted collector, an interest she apparently shared with her husband.
She willed the entire contents of her private suite of rooms at Chatsworth to her daughter Anne, wife to the 5th Earl of Exeter; an exceptional bequest, which added greatly to the collections at Burghley and is known as the 1690 Devonshire Schedule or Deed of Gift.
