Portrait of Sir Cyril Wyche

Three-quarter length portrait of Cyril Wyche, inclined to the right as viewed, looking out at the viewer, with one hand on his hip and the other resting on a table top. He wears a deep blue jacket with loose sleeves that reveal the white shirt beneath, with a white necktie, and a mauve shawl draped over his left arm. Behind, the outdoors is visible, a statue is depicted in a niche, above which some foliage and the sky.

In the top-left hand corner is Wyche's coat of arms. It consists of a shield quartered with the Wyche and Brett arms, and an inescutcheon of pretence of the Jermyn arms. Above, a knight's helmet and raised arm crest, and red and white mantling, and below the motto: 'NON EST CURRENTIUM'.

Sir Cyril Wyche (c.1632 - 1707), Brtish lawyer and politician, was an Original Fellow of the Royal Society, elected in 1663. He served on at least three Society Committees, as a member of Council (1699) , as Vice President (1682, 1686, 1690, 1695, 1703-1705) and as President (1683-1684). Outside of the Society, he acted as six clerk in chancery (1662-75), Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1676, 1677-1685, 1692), Member of Parliament for Callington, Cornwall (1661-1678), Preston (1702-1705), Gentleman of the Privy Chamber (1690-1702), Lord Justice of Ireland (1693) and Trustee for Iris forfeitures (1700).

Wyche was born in Constantinople to a wealthy merchant family. His grandfather, Richard Wyche (1554- 1621), was a merchant on the first Committee of Directors of the English East India Company (EIC). Though not directly involved with the EIC, Wyche’s account books indicate that he was a stockholder from the late 17th century to his death. While the EIC’s royal charter initially gave it the ability to ‘wage war’ to fight rival traders only, its army was later used to forcibly annexe several regions of the Indian subcontinent. It used enslaved people for labour across its territories until the abolition of slavery in India in 1843.

This portrait is suspected to be the same referenced in Wyche's will: 'I do also give unto her [Mary]...my own picture which was drawn for her'. Though the artist is unknown, certain elements of the handling, notably the fingers and facial features, are reminiscent of the work of Charles d'Agar (1669-1723).