Provenance

Probably intended for the sitter's husband, Paul Cobb Methuen [1752-1816], Corsham Court, Wiltshire, but possibly neither finished nor delivered. Possibly (Mrs. Gainsborough sale, Christie's, London, 10-11 April 1797, 1st day, no. 12);[1] Caleb Whitefoord [1734-1810]. Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd baron Methuen [1845-1932], Corsham Court; purchased c.1893 by (Wallis & Son, London); sold 1893 to Peter A.B. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from the Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] Sir Ellis Waterhouse, Gainsborough, London, 1958: no. 483, has suggested that this lot, one of a number of unfinished portraits in the sale, may be identical with the Washington picture, a view that is supported by the evidence of the change in format and additions to the canvas, and by the absence of documentation in the Corsham Court archives.

Associated Names

• Methuen, Paul Cobb
• Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
• Whitefoord, Caleb
• Methuen, Paul Sanford, 3rd baron Methuen
• Wallis & Son, Henry
• Widener, Peter Arrell Brown
• Widener, Joseph E.

Bibliography

1856

• Fulcher, George Williams. Life of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A.. 2d rev. ed., London, 1856: 229.

1898

• Armstrong, Sir Walter. Gainsborough & His Place in English Art. London, 1898: 199; popular ed., London, 1904: 273.

1915

• Roberts, William. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: British and Modern French Schools, Philadelphia, 1915: unpaginated, repro.

1923

• Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro., as Portrait of Mrs. Methuen.

1931

• Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 8, repro., as Portrait of Mrs. Methuen.

1942

• Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 5, as Mrs. Methuen.

1948

• Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 84, repro., as Mrs. Methuen.

1958

• Waterhouse, Sir Ellis. Gainsborough. London, 1958: no. 483.

1965

• Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 55, Mrs. Methuen.

1968

• National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 47, repro., as Mrs. Methuen.

1975

• European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 142, repro., as Mrs. Methuen.

1985

• European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 165, 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: 87-90, repro. 89.

Wikidata ID