Physical Dimensions: painted surface: 69.7 x 49.5 cm (27 7/16 x 19 1/2 in.)
overall size: 79 x 58 cm (31 1/8 x 22 13/16 in.)
framed: 99.7 x 78.1 x 8.3 cm (39 1/4 x 30 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
Provenance: Possibly George Ashburnham, 3rd earl of Ashburnham [1760-1830], Florence and Ashburnham Place, Battle, Sussex; by inheritance to his son, Bertram Ashburnham, 4th earl of Ashburnham [1797-1878], Ashburnham Place;[1] by inheritance to his son, Bertram Ashburnham, 5th earl of Ashburnham [1840-1913], Ashburnham Place; by inheritance to his daughter, Lady Mary Catherine Charlotte Ashburnham [d. 1953], Ashburnham Place; (Robert Langton Douglas, London);[2] sold June 1919 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York);[3] purchased 15 December 1936 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[4] gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] The collection was formed by the fourth Earl and by his father George, the third Earl of Ashburnham. As there is no record of their collecting activities, it is not clear which of the two acquired the individual items. After the death of the fourth Earl, however, no paintings were added to the collection. See _The Ashburnham Collections, Part I. Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings..._, Sotheby's, London, 24 June 1953: 3-4.
[2] The Duveen Brothers Records list the painting as "Ashburnham Colln." and "ex L. Douglas" (copy in NGA curatorial files; X Book, Reel 422, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles). _Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America_, New York, 1941: no. 96, specifies that the panel was formerly in the collections of the fifth earl of Ashburnham and his daughter. It is known that Robert Langton Douglas was in touch with the Ashburnham family in order to acquire paintings from their collection; see Denys Sutton, "Robert Langton Douglas," _Apollo_ 109 (1979): 452. See also letter from Douglas to Fowles dated 1 May 1941, Duveen Brothers Records, Box 244 (reel 299).
[3] The Duveen Brothers Records indicate that the painting was paid for on 10 June 1919 (copy in NGA curatorial files; see note 2).
[4] The original Duveen Brothers invoice is in Gallery Archives, copy in NGA curatorial files.