George Gower

(circa 1540-1596 London)

Portrait of Sir Edward Monins of Waldershare, three-quarter-length, in a black and gold striped doublet and plumed cap

Footnotes

Provenance
Sir Edward Monins of Waldershare (c.1550-1602), and by descent through the family to the present owner

An inscription on the later frame suggests that this portrait was painted in 1575 when Sir Edward Monins, a young man from one of the leading aristocratic families of Kent, was 26. The date of his knighthood is not recorded, but given the position of his right hand which displays his ringed thumb so prominently, (a sign of his knightly status), the portrait seems very likely to have been commissioned to celebrate the event. Elizabeth I did not readily grant titles and she was sparing with knighthoods, so it suggests that her regard for Monins was unusually high, although he very likely had influential sponsors as well. His mother came from Hever, whose castle had been the home of the Boleyn family, so there may also have been a connection there that made the Queen look favourably on him. In 1582 she was to confer the further honour of making him a Justice of Peace of Kent giving him the responsibility not only for collecting taxes but for overseeing the militia and defences of the county, and as Dover was the gateway to the Continent it effectively put the safety of the country in his hands.

The portraitist to whom the fashionable Sir Edward turned was the leading oil painter of his day, George Gower. Gower shows him resplendent in lavish clothes that give no doubt as to his wealth, his cap is banded with grey pearls and the ostrich feather is decorated with a gold tassel; across his chest is a heavy six-strand gold chain and the hilts of his sword and dagger are both gilded. His striped doublet is woven with costly gold thread, the contrasting black and gold colouring reflecting the height of fashion at the time, (similar black and gold decoration can be seen in the much-prized armour produced at Greenwich at the same date). But if the portrait announces Sir Edward's wealth and status it also demonstrates his loyalty and allegiance to the Queen as her knight. The family motto which we see inscribed on the portrait, 'Mediocria Maxima' (translated as 'the middle way is best'), would have chimed with her own policy of moderation in religious and political matters.

From a family of Yorkshire gentry, Gower established himself in London as a society portraitist and was at the peak of his career when this portrait was painted. He was to receive the royal seal of approval in 1581 when he was appointed Serjeant-Painter to Elizabeth I giving him responsibility for painting portraits, (Hilliard was employed to paint miniatures), as well as copying and restoring paintings at the palace. He is best remembered today for his portraits of the Queen, such as the Plimpton Sieve portrait now in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C. He was also much in demand amongst Elizabeth's courtiers and other aristocrats, see for example his portrait of 1579 of Frances Brydges, Lady Chandos, which is now at the Yale Center for British Art (acc. no. B1973.1.3, see fig. 1). Gower and Hilliard together drafted a patent in 1584 that would give them a monopoly on all portraits of the Queen but there is no evidence that the patent was ever granted: Elizabeth, as ever, was cautious in conferring favours.

Sir Edward Monins of Waldershare was the second son of Richard Monins of Saltwood Castle in Kent (who died 1560-1) and Katherine Alefe (daughter of Thomas Alefe or Ayliffe of Colshill). Sir Edward succeeded his elder brother, John Monins of Swanton, in 1568 and he married Elizabeth Lovelace, the daughter of Thomas Lovelace. Their children were Sir William Monins, who was created first Baronet of Waldershare by King James I in 1611, and four daughters, Elizabeth, Priscilla, Frances and Mary. Sir Edward died in 1602, the year before his monarch, and he and his wife are buried at Waldershare Church where they are commemorated in a monument on the south wall.

Over the years, the family name has been spelled in a variety of ways: Monyn, Monyns, Monyng, Monin and now Monins. The family have long been associated with East Kent, and can trace their roots back to the time of William the Conqueror. The founder of the family, Sir Symond de Monyn, whose seat was the castle of Mayon in Normandy, came to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror. Sir Symond's grandson, Sir Alexander Monyn, then acquired the estate of Poulton near Dover and the family established itself in East Kent. During the reign of Henry VI (1422-61) they grew in importance with the acquisition in 1422 of the estate of Malmains, near Dover. As the old manor house of Malmains was in a poor state of repair John Monins built a new mansion nearby at Waldershare, where the present house stands today.

The extensive inscription above the coat-of-arms reads: 'LUNA SUAE, PERFERT ARGENTEA, LUCIES ECLYPSIM;/AUREA, INEXTINCTO LUMINE, LUNA NITET.' which translates as 'The perfect silver of the moon eclipses light/Golden, the moon shines with inextinguishable light.' Below it the inscription continues with a poem that puns on the Monins name and the moon:

'Aloft appears St Phabus force, in goulden gleaming, spheare
The moone succeades then well, in armes, theis moones may Moninges beare
Both sweetest soyles, and swelling seas the mone their Mistresse have
Moninges thearfore in field of guels, three moonetz golden gave.'

The first quarter of the coat-of-arms, Gules, three crescents or, and the motto, 'Mediocria Maxima' is that granted to the Monins family. The further thirteen quarterings of the arms depicted here are those of the sitter's ancestors before they separated into two branches (of Waldershare and of Dover). The remaining six quarterings belonged solely to the Waldershare branch from their marriages before they separated from the Monins of Dover and comprise respectively the arms of the heiresses of Leverick (or Laverick), Wolridge, Ayliffe of Coleshill in Milton, Chicke and Chickley, and Coleshill of Milton again. Besides the gold ring on the sitter's thumb, the seal ring on the fourth finger of his right hand, furthermore, shows the arms of Monins, Leverick, Chicke and Ayliffe respectively.