John Smart, Portrait of Gore Townsend of Honington, 1767

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

Unknown owner, by July 13, 1950 [1];

Purchased from her sale, Catalogue of Portrait Miniatures, Objects of Vertu, Fine Watches, Gold Boxes, Etc., Sotheby’s, London, July 13, 1950, lot 5, as Gore Townsend, of Honington, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1950–1982 [2];

Sold at their sale, Silhouettes and Fine Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, March 15, 1982, lot 79, as Gore Townsend [3];

Current location unknown.

Notes

[1] According to the sales catalogue, lots 1–6 were sold by “The Property of a Lady.”

[2] “Gore Townsend, of Honington, by John Smart, signed and dated 1767, painted when he was a youth, head and shoulders three-quarters sinister, gaze directed at spectator, long hair falling nearly to the shoulders, in white cravat, green vest and coat, pearl-bordered frame, 1 1/2 in.” Leggatt bought lot 5 for 55 pounds. 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.

[3] “Gore Townsend, the young boy with shoulder-length brown hair and wearing a green jacket and matching waistcoat over a frilled white jabot, mounted within a seed-pearl bordered gold slide frame, oval 1 3/8 in.; 3.5 cm., some pearls missing. Literature: Foskett (D.), John Smart, 1964, illustrated pl. IX, no. 24, listed p. 74.” The annotated catalogue has a circled lot number and lists “1800” below the lot description.

The sitter is likely Gore Townsend (1752–1826) of Honington Hall, who married Elizabeth Windsor, daughter of the 4th Earl of Plymouth.

Catalogue of Portrait Miniatures, Objects of Vertu, Fine Watches, Gold Boxes, Etc. (London: Sotheby’s, July 13, 1950), 4, as Gore Townsend, of Honington.

Daphne Foskett, John Smart: The Man and His Miniatures (London: Cory, Adams, and Mackay, 1964), x, (repro.), as Gore Townsend, of Honington.

Silhouettes and Fine Portrait Miniatures (London: Sotheby’s, March 15, 1982), 22, as Gore Townsend.