Unknown, Portrait of a Woman, Possibly Anne Julie de Béthisy, Comtesse de Grabowska, late 19th/early 20th century

While this miniature was long identified as the work of Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin, it lacks Augustin’s style, technique, or coloring and most likely dates to the end of the nineteenth century. We have not been able to trace it to a known portrait of the sitter, who was identified, probably erroneously, as Anne Julie de Béthisy, Comtesse de Grabowska (1773–1849). We are grateful to Bernd Pappe for his insight on the attribution of this miniature during a visit to the Nelson-Atkins from July 24–26, 2023 (see Bernd Pappe, “Attribution Report,” August 6, 2023, Nelson-Atkins curatorial files).

Almarus Edward Digby, Esq. (1889–1950), London, by 1950;

Purchased from his posthumous sale, Catalogue of Gold Snuff Boxes, Watches, Musical Boxes, Objects of Vertu and Fine Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, June 21, 1951, lot 73, as Mme. la Comtesse de Grabowska (née de Bethisy), by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1951–1958 [1];

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.

Notes

[1] “A good French miniature by Augustin, called Mme. la Comtesse de Grabowska (née de Bethisy), half-length, full face in white hat and feathers, low-cut white dress with broad purple sash, in a circular ormolu frame, 3in.; and another fine small Miniature of La Duchesse de St. Leu, probably by Isabey, in a pale blue dress, enamelled and pearl-bordered frame, 1 1/2 in.” According to an attached price list, Leggatt bought lot 73 for £45. Archival research has shown that Leggatt Brothers served as purchasing agents for the Starrs. See correspondence between Betty Hogg and Martha Jane Starr, May 15 and June 3, 1950, Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.

The Starr Foundation Collection of Miniatures, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, December 8, 1972–January 14, 1973, no cat., no. 238, as by Jean-Baptiste-Jacques Augustin, Mme. la Comtesse de Grabowska.

Catalogue of Gold Snuff Boxes, Watches, Musical Boxes, Objects of Vertu and Fine Portrait Miniatures (London: Sotheby’s, June 21, 1951), 11, as Mme. la Comtesse de Grabowska (née de Bethisy)

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 238, p. 78, (repro.), as by Jean-Baptiste-Jacques Augustin, Mme. la Comtesse de Grabowska.