John Musters
1777-c. 1780
Artist, British, 1723 - 1792


West Building Main Floor, Gallery 59
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
Given in memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by The Fuller Foundation, Inc.
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Dimensions
overall: 238.5 x 147.3 cm (93 7/8 x 58 in.)
framed: 267.7 x 175.6 cm (105 3/8 x 69 1/8 in.) -
Accession
1961.2.2
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by inheritance to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick Hall; (his estate sale, at Colwick Hall by J.M. Pott, 9-13 and 16 December 1850, 4th day [Dec. 12], no. 680, bought in); by inheritance to his grandson, John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall; his estate; sold 3 July 1888 to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 10 July 1888 to Sir Edward Cecil Guinness [later 1st earl of Iveagh, 1847-1927], Dublin, London, Cowes, and Elveden Hall, Suffolk; sold 19 November 1892 back to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 29 June 1897 to (William Lockett Agnew, London).[1] private collection ["a lady"]; consigned for her by (William Lockett Agnew, London) to (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no.101); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold two days later to Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th duke of Marlborough [1871-1934];[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104); bought by (Lane) for Sir W. Hutcheson Poë, Bt., Batchwood Hall, near St. Albans;[3] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London);[4] sold the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston; The Fuller Foundation, Boston; gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] The purchase of the painting by Guinness and its sale back to Agnew is discussed in Julius Bryant, Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest, New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417; this reference was kindly brought to the Gallery's attention by a descendant of the sitter, Robert Chaworth-Musters, in an e-mail of 7 July 2015, copy in NGA curatorial files. The Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. Archive was acquired in 2014 by the National Gallery Archive, London, and the picture stock books have since been digitized and made available on-line. The Reynolds is recorded on page 92 of the stock book for 1885-1891 (reference number NGA27/1/1/7), and on page 35 of the stock book for 1891-1898 (reference number NGA27/1/1/8); copies in NGA curatorial files.
[2] Agnew stock books, recorded by The Getty Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, California. See also letter of 9 June 1988 from Martha Hepworth at The Getty Provenance Index, in NGA curatorial files.
[3] The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poë.
[4] Details of the consignors and buyers at the 1901, 1907, and 1927 Christie's sales were kindly confirmed by Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie's Archives, in her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1878
Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57.
1885
Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189.
1895
20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, 1895, no. 15.
1910
Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd's Bush, London, 1910, no. 9, repro.
1928
Exhibition of Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24.
1939
Art in New England: Paintings, Drawings, Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pl. 56.
1959
A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
2002
Loan to display with permanent collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, 2002-2003.
Bibliography
1865
Leslie, Charles Robert and Tom Taylor. Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 2 vols. London, 1865: 2:202, 302.
1899
Graves, Algernon and William Vine Cronin. A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 4 vols. London, 1899-1901: 2:487-488.
1900
Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900: 221.
1941
Waterhouse, Sir Ellis. Reynolds. London, 1941: 69, pl. 192.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 319, repro., as Squire Musters.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 114, as Squire Musters.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 101, repro., as Squire Musters.
1969
Watson, Ross. "British Paintings in the National Gallery of Art." The Connoisseur 172 (1969): 56, repro., 57-58.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 304, repro., as Squire Musters.
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 505, color repro.
1981
Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 12, repro. 14, as Squire Musters.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 361, no. 502, color repro., as Squire Musters.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 349, repro., as Squire Musters.
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: 215-217, repro. 216.
2003
Bryant, Julius. Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest. New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 352, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417.
Wikidata ID
Q20178848