Charles Robertson, Portrait of Kathleen Bellew Peel, ca. 1805

Chicago:

Maggie Keenan, “Charles Robertson, Portrait of Kathleen Bellew Peel, ca. 1805,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 3, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1486.

MLA:

Keenan, Maggie. “Charles Robertson, Portrait of Kathleen Bellew Peel, ca. 1805,” catalogue entry. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan. The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, edited by Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, vol. 3, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024. doi: 10.37764/8322.5.1486

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

This portrait may depict Kathleen Bellew Peel, whose identification as the sitter originates from a June 15, 1950, sale: “Mrs. John Peel, née Kathleen Bellew.”¹ Genealogical research has not revealed a Kathleen Bellew and John Peel couple from this time period. Until recently, the miniature was attributed to John Comerford (1770–1832), but it has since been reassigned to Charles Robertson. Robertson never signed his miniatures, but they are recognizable for his distinct style: soft depictions of sitters turned three-quarters to the right, who gaze back at the viewer.²

The present sitter has the downward-sloping upper eyelids that are characteristic of Robertson’s works and a small, oval-shaped shadow beneath her nose. Her finely delineated hair is worked up into a Regency updo, with a braid of hair ending in a tuft of curls atop the crown of her head. Fine hairs sweep forward along her hairline, closing in around her eyes and eyebrows. Her irises are a striking dark brown color, with the smallest speck of white highlighting the tops of her pupils. Robertson was not as interested in fashion as other miniaturists of this time; here, his sitter wears only a simple white gown.

The case is authentic to the Georgian period, but its “CC” inscription on the case front has not yet been deciphered.³ Robertson worked with hair art early in his career, and it is a feature that appears in many of his miniatures—mostly as hair backs but seen in this miniature as a braided interior element that faces the portrait when the case is shut. It is impossible to confirm that the copper-colored hair came from the sitter, but its color certainly matches her curly locks.

Notes

1. Catalogue of Objects of Vertu, Fine Watches and Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, June 15, 1950, lot 126.

2. For an extremely similar work to that at the Nelson Atkins, see Charles Robertson, Pair of Portrait Miniatures of a Husband and Wife, ca. 1800, 2 9/32 in. (5.8 cm) high, sold at Chiswick Auctions, London, March 20, 2018, lot 35, https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/charles-robertson-british-c-1760-1821-a-fine-pair-35-c-18042e4bd5.

3. Thank you to specialist Stephen Lloyd, who confirmed the authenticity of the case during an in-person conversation with the author, October 4, 2023. Notes in NAMA curatorial files.

Morgan Stuart Williams (1846–1909), St. Donat’s Castle, Llantwit Major, Glamorgan, Wales, by around 1873 [1];

Possibly by descent to his son, Godfrey Herbert Joseph Williams (1875–1956), St. Donat’s Castle, by 1909 [2];

Elsie Gertrude Kehoe (1888–1967), Cliffe Dene, Saltdean, Sussex, England, by 1950;

Purchased from her sale, Objects of Vertu, Fine Watches, Etc., Including The Property of Mrs. W. D. Dickson; also Fine Portrait Miniatures Comprising The Property of Mrs. Kehoe, Sotheby’s, London, June 15, 1950, lot 126, as Mrs. John Peel, née Kathleen Bellew, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1950–1958 [3];

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

Notes

[1] Williams was a collector of portrait miniatures and armor. See his posthumous sales, The Collection of Arms and Armour, Early English Oak, and Tapestry, Formed by Morgan S. Williams, Esq., Christie’s, London, April 26–28, 1921, and Old English Silver Formerly the Property of the Late Morgan S. Williams, Esq., of St. Donats Castle, S. Wales and now sold by order of Godfrey H. Williams, Esq., Christie’s, London, May 1, 1946. Records in the National Library of Wales indicate a September 24, 1873, note from a Mr. Villiers to Williams: “Forwards miniatures for approval,” suggesting the purchase of portrait miniatures around this time. For more information, see “Aberpergwm Estate Records: File – Mr Villiers, Rock House, Llandrindodd to Morgan Stuart Williams,” ref. 3066, vtls005025756, ISYSARCHB2, https://archives.library.wales/downloads/aberpergwm-estate-records.pdf.

[2] Godfrey Williams sold St. Donat’s Castle in 1922, so a sale of portrait miniatures may have also occurred around this time. See the 1921 sale of Williams’s armor in the former footnote.

[3] The lot included a second miniature: “The Duchess of Devonshire, by Maria Cosway, nearly full face, in a low-cut dress, signed at back ‘Painted by Maria Cosway, June 7, 1800,’ oval, 3 in.; and a well-painted Miniature of Mrs. John Peel, née Kathleen Bellew, by John Comerford, almost in profile to dexter, wearing a white dress, in gold folding case, oval, 2 3/4 in. From the S. Morgan Williams Collection. The first illustrated in Foster in Miniature Painters, British and Foreign, pl. 55, no. 104.” Leggatt Brothers bought lot 126 for 19 pounds. The catalogue incorrectly refers to the collector Morgan Stuart Williams as S. Morgan Williams.

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.

Catalogue of Objects of Vertu, Fine Watches, Etc., Including The Property of Mrs. W. D. Dickson; also Fine Portrait Miniatures Comprising The Property of Mrs. Kehoe (London: Sotheby’s, June 15, 1950), 17, as Mrs. John Peel, née Kathleen Bellew.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 187, p. 63, (repro.), as by John Comerford, Kathleen Bellew Peel (Mrs. John).