Colonel Francis James Scott
1796/1811
Artist, Scottish, 1756 - 1823

Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
overall: 128 x 102 cm (50 3/8 x 40 3/16 in.)
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Accession
1937.1.102
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Presented by the sitter to James Pillans, 1815.[1] Bequeathed to William Soltan Pillans, London.[2] (Anon. [=Miss Pillans] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 1 July 1899, no. 100), bought by (Thos. Agnew & Sons), London, who sold it 1899 to Marcus Trevelyan Martin, London. Mrs. Marcus Trevelyan Martin, who sold it October 1921 to (M. Knoedler & Co.), London,[3] from whose New York branch it was purchased May 1922 by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, by whom deeded December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift to NGA, 1937.
[1] There is an inscription on the back of the lining canvas, presumably copied from the original canvas: "Colonel Francis James Scott to his Friend James Pillans Esq. 1815." [2] A label on the back of the lining canvas is inscribed: "Portrait of Colonel Francis Scott of Harsely, my much regarded friend--to William Soltan Pillans--given for family preservation specially noted in my settlement J. Pillans." "Harsely" perhaps refers to Horsley Hall, Strontian, Argyllshire, the only "Harsely" in Scotland. [3] M. Knoedler & Co. stock books (Helmut Ripperger to Ross Watson, 28 September 1969, in NGA curatorial files).
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1899
Twenty Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., 1899, no. 10.
1906
Works by the Old Masters and Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1906, no. 57.
1908
Franco-British Exhibition, Fine Art Palace, London, 1908, no. 58A.
1925
Pictures by Raeburn, M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, 1925, no. 3.
Bibliography
1901
Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Henry Raeburn. London, 1901: 111.
1911
Greig, James. Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A.: His Life and His Works. London, 1911: 59.
1941
Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 161, no. 102.
1942
Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 241, repro. 17.
1949
Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 119, repro.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 320, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 106.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 94, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 276, repro.
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 524, color repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 368, no. 522, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 322, repro.
1992
Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 202-203, repro. 203.
Wikidata ID
Q20180279