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For sale: Van Dyck (1 careful owner since 1712)

Chris Green
Wednesday 30 September 2009 00:00 BST
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The last self-portrait painted by Sir Anthony van Dyck, one of the most famous portrait painters, is to go up for auction after 300 years in a private family collection.

The oval-shaped work, which is expected to fetch up to £3m at Sotheby's in London in December, was painted a few months before his death in 1641.

It depicts the painter dressed grandly in a black and white slashed silk doublet, looking over his shoulder at the viewer.

The painting has remained in the same family collection since 1712, and is being sold by the trustees of the descendants of the Earl of Jersey.

David Moore-Gwyn, senior specialist in early British paintings, described the work as "the most important portrait by Van Dyck to come to auction in my 35-year career at Sotheby's".

It is one of only three Van Dyck self-portraits painted in England.

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