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[Bertram de Ashburnham] This Portraiture is in memory of Bertram Ashburnham of Ashburnham in Sussex, who in the tyme of King Harold was Warden of the Cinqueports...
Edw: Le Davis sculp.
[British, n.d., c.1680.]
Engraving, image 220 x 170mm. 8¾ x 6¾". Trimmed to plate, cut at top, fine impression.
Fanciful portrait of Bertram de Ashburnham (c.1010 – 1066), ‘Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports’; in armour, with fabric collar and belt. This unfortunate Bertram is alleged to have met with a variety of deaths: to have been killed while fighting at Hastings, to have been executed by William the Conqueror outside the gates of Canterbury 'where he lived much esteemed, and to have been very active in the cause of liberty and his country', and to have met a similar fate at Dover. His sons, Philip and Michael, are said to have died with their father, and Reginald (Philip's son) to have been in possession of Ashburnham in 1166. It is curious, to say the least, that the Conqueror should have left the Ashburnham lands in the hands of the family of so versatile an opponent. Dover Castle was not in fact very gallantly defended and it is said to have surrendered without a blow. Edward Le Davis (fl.1671- after 1691) Davis was originally apprenticed to David Loggan, but he ran away to France, where he produced various prints between 1671 and 1674 and added ‘Le’ to his name. By 1675 he had returned to England, where he was active as a dealer in paintings as well as an engraver, conducting joint sales with the auctioneer, Edward Millington.
Ex Collection: R. Hobson of Hove.

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• Antique portrait print: Bertram de Ashburnham