Jan GRIFFIER THE ELDER (Amsterdam, 1645 – 1718, London)

Roy Miles Collection; probably acquired from him, private collection, Belgium.

G. R. Baleine, *All for the King. The Life of George Carteret*, Jersey, Société Jersiaise, 1976, pp. 173–175.

Located near the bay of Mont Saint-Michel, Jan Griffier was evidently passing through Dragey, where he depicted one of the coast’s prettiest manor houses.

Originally from Amsterdam, Jan Griffier the Elder was a travelling artist who spent his final years in England. His travels took him as far as Normandy and, it seems, even to Dragey and the Potrel manor house. Situated not far from the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel, the artist captured its contemporary architecture; the building dates from the third quarter of the 17th century.

In 1654, the manor was acquired by George Carteret (c. 1610–1680), who retained ownership during his exile in France until 1661, when he sold the manor to Luis d’Argouges. A friend of King Charles II of England, he was one of the founders of North Carolina in the United States.
In 1792, he took in one of Louis XVI’s Swiss Guards, a survivor of the Tuileries massacre.