CIRCLE OF PIETER BORSELAER (DUTCH 1632-1692)PORTRAIT OF CATHERINE BOEVEY, 'THE PERVERSE WIDOW', THREE-QUARTER LENGTH, IN A BLACK DRESS AND MANTOil on canvas115 x 94cm (45¼ x 37 in.)Provenance:Probably commissioned by William Boevey (1657-92) and by descent at Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire, until sold Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire: Catalogue of the Valuable Contents, Bruton, Knowles & Co., 29 March - 5 April 1960, lot 1294.Bought by Mr and Mrs Frederick Baden-Watkins and thence by descent at Flaxley AbbeyLiterature: Arthur W. Crawley-Boevey, A Brief Account of the Antiquities, Family Pictures and Other Notable Articles at Flaxley Abbey, co. Gloucester, Bristol, 1912, p. 11, no. 6; p. 13.J. Lees-Milne, 'Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire - II: The Home of Mr. and Mrs. F.B. Watkins', Country Life, 5 April 1973, p. 910, fig. 5.J. Lees-Milne, 'Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire - III: The Home of Mr. and Mrs. F.B. Watkins', Country Life, 12 April 1973, p. 981, fig. 4, The Morning Room. Crawley-Boevey, A.W.C., The Perverse Widow, Being Passages from the Life of Catharina, Wife of William Boevey, 1898Illustrated: C. Castle, Oliver Messel: A Biography, London, 1986, p. 215.T. Messel, Oliver Messel: in the theatre of design, New York, 2011, p. 125, 'the morning room'Comparative literature:J. Munns, P. Richards, 'A Woman of Extraordinary Merit: Catherine Bovey of Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire', ed. C.D. Williams, A. Escott, L. Duckling, Woman to Woman: Female Negotiations During the Long Eighteenth Century, Newark, 2010, pp. 101-116.This portrait of Catherine Boevey (d. 1726), 'The Perverse Widow', represents the most celebrated of the Crawley-Boevey ancestors. After her death, her 'genius and good judgement' and 'the wit and elegance of her conversation' was lauded by George Ballard (c. 1706-55) in his Memoirs of Several Ladies of Great Britain who have been Celebrated for their Writing or Skill in the Learned Languages, Arts, and Sciences (1752). Catherine was the sole heir of her wealthy father, John Riches, an Amsterdam merchant resident in London. In 1684, she married William Boevey (1657-92) of Flaxley Abbey, also of Dutch mercantile descent, who was probably responsible for improvements made to the west wing as several firebacks in the mansion are marked 'W.B. 1685'. The marriage was unhappy and childless but by 1692 William was dead. By his Will, she was granted life residency of the great estate of Flaxley that included furnaces and forges for iron casting, and Catherine became one of the only female landholders in Gloucestershire in this period. Although it was customary for wealthy widows to remarry, Catherine chose to remain single. The moniker 'The Perverse Widow' possibly relates to Catherine's rejection of the attentions of her neighbour Sir John Pakington, 4th Baronet of Westwood Park (fictionalised in the Tatler as Sir Roger de Coverley). In addition to her education and good sense, she frequented intellectual and literary circles in London and was known for her charitable works - she was one of the earliest promoters of Sunday School teaching, the founder of the annual Three Choirs Festival and a supporter of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospels. She was considered a great beauty, and was adept in the female accomplishment of singing and music. Another admirer, Sir Richard Steele, dedicated the second volume of his The Ladies Library (1714) to Catherine. After her death a monument was erected in Westminster Abbey.