The lady with the barrel charm: ‘Unknown woman, formerly known as Margaret Pole’ An evaluation.
- Katie Lees
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
‘Unknown woman, formerly known as Margaret Pole’ is a portrait currently owned by the National Portrait Gallery. Margaret Pole, born 14th August 1473, is an extremely interesting woman who experienced major fluctuations in her social standing from her birth, through the Wars of the Roses, the establishment of the Tudor regime and the oppressive Henrician age. Hence the title of the portrait, it has not been conclusively proven to be Margaret Pole and there has been debate on who exactly the sitter may be.
This portrait has become an art history conundrum, the artist is unknown and the year of creation is an estimate, circa 1535. Originally, the portrait was confidently believed to be Margaret Pole but this was rescinded as a fact after examinations of the artwork in the 1960s and 1970s. Hilary Mantel noted that some original features may have been altered in the 20th century, such as the possibility that the black ribbon was added to hide damaged paint, this raised the question could the barrel charm have been added also? 1 Roy Strong noted that the portrait was first documented in 1785 and believed it to be a lady from the Barrington family playing the role of Margaret Pole, however, the National Portrait Gallery has identified the painting's origins as the 1530s so this argument is not completely persuasive. 2 There is little doubt that features have been altered on the painting but the questions are, which features have been altered and why?
Unfortunately, it will likely never be known. Hazel Pierce has stood firm on her stance that as the barrel charm did not fade during the 1973 cleaning of the portrait it is more likely to be an original feature. 3 Pierce’s view is convincing, as the author of the first full biography on Margaret Pole her research was extensive and regarding this portrait, discussed with the National Portrait Gallery. The stance that this article will support is that the sitter is indeed Margaret Pole and from it historians can glean an insight into the countess and the treacherous medieval landscape in which she lived.
Margaret’s parents were two nobles from the house of York, George, Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville; the marriage had been part of a rebellion and a betrayal of George’s brother, King Edward IV, who had previously denied the union. Despite this, George and Isabel were forgiven and welcomed back into the Yorkist court. George however, never seemed to feel secure in his place within the regime.
With Isabel’s death in 1476, George became increasingly erratic and destroyed any remaining patience Edward IV had with his displays of disloyalty. George was convinced that his brothers did not wish for him to obtain more wealth and power. This frustrated him greatly as he had vast ambitions for himself, thus he became riskier in his behaviour and involved in a string of legal disputes; the Duke refused to eat the King's food and his men were legally linked to the dark arts. The final straw for Edward IV was George’s judicial murder of Ankarette Twynho and John Thursby whom he believed to be responsible for the poisoning of his wife but were both almost certainly innocent.
The image of the three brothers of York had been a powerful part of the Yorkist identity, brothers united against disputable Lancastrians who would shine the sun back on England. George’s behaviour though was erratic and untrustworthy. On 18th February 1478, George was executed for treason, reportedly by being “plunged into a barrel of sweet wine.”4
Margaret Pole was unlikely to remember much about her parents but the unhappy series of events that occurred after Isabel’s death had a profound impact on her life. George had died a traitor's death. Margaret was Yorkist royalty but also a traitor's daughter, these two things would come to define her reputation. His execution thrust her into a life of wardship that would only further change with the fall of the Yorkist dynasty. These would have been a major series of events in her life and perhaps years later, she memorialised them within portraiture.
The rumours that have circulated around George’s execution focus on being drowned in a barrel of Malmsey wine. The rumour, started by Dominic Mancini, a peer with very little link to the Yorkist royals, could easily be false, but there has not been steadfast evidence against it either. Whether the barrel execution is true or false, it came to define George, Duke of Clarence in historiography where he has often been represented as fickle and foolish.
Margaret Pole herself, went through dramatic changes of fortune during her adult life. Henry VII married her to Richard Pole, a staunch Lancastrian of humble standing; the couple had children, resided in the Ludlow household of Prince Arthur and settled into Tudor society. It was in the turbulent reign of Henry VIII and after the death of her husband however, that Margaret’s prominence rose. In 1512, Margaret regained her family’s wealth, titles and land, surpassing the expectations of her gender and becoming the only woman in England to hold a title in her own right, which she would be until 1532. Margaret showed herself to be ambitious and intelligent, she was also loyal and staunchly supported what she cared about, demonstrated by her actions regarding The Kings Great Matter which would eventually tie into the downfall of the Pole family.
Margaret Pole lost standing with the King during the 1530s as she firmly planted herself in the Aragonese faction, interestingly, this is the estimated creation date of the portrait making it a vital timeframe to analyse. During the dissolution of Princess Mary’s household in 1533, Margaret refused to hand over the princess’ jewels and was dismissed from court. The Poles were also one of the noble families implicated in the Nun of Kent affair, a case inexplicitly linked to the growing treason laws and which demonstrated who in court was not supporting the new faith. In Europe, Margaret’s son Reginald, was on a catholic campaign to condemn the King’s actions. As long as he worked against the King abroad, his family would not be trusted at home. In a report from Eustace Chapuys from February 1535, Henry VIII supposedly referred to Margaret as a ‘fool of no experience,’ this personal insult demonstrated how far Margaret had come from being the trusted governess to Princess Mary years earlier.5 Henry VIII no longer approved of the Pole family and their matriarch and had no qualms about showing it.
In the ‘Unknown Woman’ portrait, a barrel charm is visible on the wrist of the sitter. Margaret has not been conclusively identified as the subject of this painting but the barrel charm is the largest piece of evidence in favour of that stance, along with a W hanging off the black ribbon which would acknowledge her Warwick ancestry from her mothers side. The barrel is undoubtedly the most interesting of these motifs, as it would be a strange fashion choice unless the symbol meant something to the wearer or the viewers of the portrait. To the Pole family and those that knew them, it would mean very much indeed.
If the barrel charm was an original feature, this portrait is very likely Margaret Pole subtly paying homage to her father. This is significant in multiple ways and, if we accept this portrait to be of Margaret, gives an insight into her boldness and how she felt towards the crown. Margaret would have been at the height of her wealth and influence visualising a charm that served as a memento of her father. Perhaps, in a nod to his own vast ambitions and in hopes that he would be proud of how high her effort had raised herself and her children. Or as a morbid reminder of how quickly one could fall from favoured courtesan to traitor.
This portrait was created in the midst of an extremely dangerous period for Margaret Pole; treason laws were expanding and she had established herself as standing against the reformist court, as her son was actively campaigning against the King to catholic enemies of England. Yet, she was further associating herself with an executed traitor whilst simultaneously harking back to her family's royal legacy. Not only would this portrait have reminded people of the powerful dynasty Margaret came from but it looks humbly regal, she is graceful and surrounded by rich green hues. This is even more fascinating with the rumours that emerged from Chapuys of a plan to marry Reginald to Princess Mary and create a new claim to the throne, according to Lauren Mackay, Chapuys was corresponding with Reginald and meeting Geoffrey Pole frequently. 6 This plan never amounted to anything, but could this portrait have even been a reminder of the Yorkist legacy of the Pole family and eligibility to the throne?
Could the barrel charm hint to a proud, rebellious attitude that Margaret and her children had gained from George, Duke of Clarence, who never caved on doing what he wished no matter how detrimental it could be. Or perhaps it served as a reminder to herself and the Pole family of how far one could fall if they walked the tightrope of traitorous behaviour, no matter who they were nor how regal their legacy was.
It would be impossible to know exactly what was intended by this portrait and there are no surviving accounts from Margaret herself that shed light on any portraiture during her life. Could the barrel, when paired with the W, have been an effort to memorialise her parents or does this seem too much and more likely to have been added later to promote the image of Margaret Pole? Whilst both are possible, this was a contentious time in Margaret’s life, she and her children would have known how easy it would be to fall victim to Henry VIII’s executioner as had happened to many courtiers by the 1530s. Therefore, it would be reasonable for one to become mindful about their family and legacy and no small memento in a portrait would necessarily be too much.
Portraits were designed to be long lasting and present a legacy to future generations. This was the era in which artists, such as Hans Holbein the Younger, created characterisations of Tudor figures through portraiture (or lack thereof) that have only recently begun to be deconstructed and viewed in more nuanced ways. This portrait then, could be evidence of the monumental effect that the execution of George, Duke of Clarence had on his daughter. If this is indeed Margaret Pole, then fifty-seven years later she was using not his badge, nor a Yorkist motif, but the method of his supposed fools execution as a token in a medium designed to be part of her future image for years to come. Additionally, doing this at a time when she was teetering on the edge of being viewed as a traitor would hint that she wanted to portray a strong message to King and court. This would display a pride in her legacy and bravery. This could be then, a dangerous and touching representation of herself to present to the ruthless world of Henrician England. No matter what is true or false, because Margaret has been linked to this portrait and George, Duke of Clarence linked to the barrel of malmsley wine for so long, they are explicitly bonded together through these things as unfortunate victims of traitor culture in historic regimes.
There is no evidence that Margaret explicitly violated the Act of Supremacy or committed treason, which means that either she was innocent or she learnt from the rebellions that her father so proudly took part in and hid her actions better than he had. In her children however, the reckless abandon that harked back to George, Duke of Clarence was rife and they did not cover their actions well enough. It was with Reginald Pole’s explicit catholic campaign, Lord Montagu Pole's loose lips and Geoffrey Pole's tortured implication of his family that Margaret Pole was arrested. On 27th May 1541, with an Act of Attainder and no concrete evidence of treason, Margaret Pole was executed at sixty-seven years old. According to the French ambassador, this consolidated the “total ruin of her house.” 7
Margaret Pole’s life was dramatic, she navigated treacherous times and was witness to prolific reigns of English History. There is sadly a lack of conclusive evidence outside of her household accounts that directly allows historians to know her as a person, which is so often the case with historical women. This is also echoed with the mystery of this portrait and the question of whether or not she is the sitter. If the lady with the barrel charm is Margaret Pole, history certainly stands to gain slightly more insight into her courageous character and fascinating life.
Hilary Mantel, ‘How do we know her?’, London Review of Books, Vol.39, No.3, February 2017
Hazel Pierce, Margaret Pole: Countess of Salisbury 1473-1541, (Cardiff, 2003) p.198
Ibid
Michael Hicks, False, Fleeting, Perjur’d Clarence: George Duke of Clarence 1449-78, (Gloucester, 1980) p.200.
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 8, January-July 1535, pp. 98-124, 1885. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol8. Date Accessed 14th August 2025.
Lauren Mackay, Inside the Tudor Court: Henry VIII and his six wives through the eyes of the Spanish Ambassador, (Gloucestershire, 2015)
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540-1541. N.p., 1898. Print. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol16/pp409-429 Date Accessed 14th August 2025.
Bibliography/Further Reading
Hicks, Michael, False, Fleeting, Perjur’d Clarence: George Duke of Clarence 1449-78, (Gloucester, 1980)
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 8, January-July 1535, pp. 98-124, 1885. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol8. Date Accessed 14th August 2025.
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540-1541. N.p., 1898. Print. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol16/pp409-429 Date Accessed 14th August 2025.
Lauren Mackay, Inside the Tudor Court: Henry VIII and his six wives through the eyes of the Spanish Ambassador, (Gloucestershire, 2015)
Mancini, Dominic, The Usurpation of Richard III, ed. C. A. J Armstrong, (Oxford, 1969).
Mantel, Hilary, ‘How do we know her?’, London Review of Books, Vol.39, No.3, February 2017.
Penn, Thomas, The Brothers York: An English Tragedy, (London, 2019)
Pierce, Hazel, Margaret Pole: Countess of Salisbury 1473-1541, (Cardiff, 2003)
Unknown Artist, ‘Unknown Women, formerly known as Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury’ (circa 1535), National Portrait Gallery.
Comments