The Hon. John Collier (1850-1934)

In The Art of Portrait Painting Collier noted that 'there is something quite unique in the charm of childhood, and it is an eminently pictorial charm' (J. Collier, 1905, p. 86). A critic of the 1883 Fine Art Society exhibition wrote that 'of all the works in the room none deserves higher praise than Mr John Collier's "Sonatina"' (Leeds Mercury, 2 April 1883). Likewise the Pall Mall Gazette remarked that Collier had 'achieved a real success with "A Sonatina"' (Pall Mall Gazette, 31 March 1883).

The painting is believed to have been commissioned by Sir William Thomas Makins, 1st Bt., (1840-1906) and has passed down in the family through the female line to the present owner. It has come from the same family collection as the group portrait of May, Agatha, Veronica and Audrey, the Daughters of Colonel Makins, M.P. by Collier which was sold in these Rooms on 25 October 1991 (lot 63).