Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. (Stockbridge 1756-1823 Edinburgh)
Portrait of William Baillie, Lord Polkemmet (Lord of Session), bust-length
oil on canvas
30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm.)
Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. (Stockbridge 1756-1823 Edinburgh)
Portrait of William Baillie, Lord Polkemmet (Lord of Session), bust-length
oil on canvas
30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm.)
Collection of the sitter, possibly until 1877.
Sir Andrew Noel Agnew (21st Baronet) possibly bought in 1877; Christie's, London, 14 July 1911, lot 85 (800 gns. to Col. T. Obach).
Sold to Colnaghi's with half share to Knoedler, 1911.
O.C.H. Gutekunst, 1911-after December 1929 (possibly owned privately).
John W. Sherwood, Baltimore (?), by March 1953.
with Knoedler, New York, by 1955, from whom acquired by the family of the present owner, and by descent.
W. Armstrong, Sir Henry Raeburn, London, 1901, p. 110 as Lord Polkemmet, owned by Sir Andrew N. Agnew, Bart., M.P., 'in wig and robes as Lord of Session, face looking to right'.
J. Grieg, Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.: his life and works with a catalogue of his Pictures, London, 1911, p. 38.
A. Graves, Art Sales, New York, 1970 (reprint of 1920), II, p. 367. Apollo, X, December 1929, opp. p. 348, cover.
New York, Knoedler Galleries, An English Exhibition to Honour Queen Elizabeth II, 5-23 May 1953, no. 10 (lent by John Sherwood, Esq.).
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, according to a label on the reverse, probably before 1954.
We are grateful to Dr. David Mackie, St. Catharine's College, University of Cambridge, for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs (private communication, 14 May 2013). Dr. Mackie notes that this portrait dates from March 1815 and cost 30 gns. The painting is Mackie number 29 and will be included in his forthcoming Complete Catalogue of Raeburn's Work, currently in preparation for publication by the Paul Mellon Centre, London, and Yale University Press.
Please note that the second line of the provenance should read:
Sir Andrew Noel Agnew (9th Baronet), possibly bought in 1877;
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