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Provenance

Elizabeth, 5th Duchess of Gordon [1794-1864]; by descent to the sitter's half-brother, Adam Gordon; thence through his widow, who married a Mr. Reid, to her grandson, Major Duggan [d. by 1918], Newton Garrie, Fochabers, Morayshire, Scotland;[1] sold 1929 by his widow to (P. Jackson Higgs), New York;[2] from whom it was purchased December 1929 by Mrs. William H. Moore, New York; by descent to her son Edward Small Moore [1881-1948], thence to his wife, Jean McGuinley Moore [later Mrs. Charles D. Draper, 1884/5-1954],New York; bequest 1954 to NGA.

Technical Summary

The fine canvas is tightly twill woven; it was relined c. 1929. According to Greig, the original canvas was stamped with the name Middleton, Raeburn's usual color merchant in London.[1] The ground is dark gray, of moderate thickness, and almost masks the weave of the canvas. The painting is executed in rich, fluid, opaque layers, thickly in the figure, more thinly in the background. The painting is in good condition. The paint surface is somewhat abraded overall, especially in the darks, but retouching is minimal. The thick natural resin varnish, slightly pigmented, has discolored yellow to a significant degree.

[1] James Greig, certificate, 4 September 1929, in NGA curatorial files.

Bibliography

1929
Art News (December 1929): 5, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 107, as Jean Christie, by Raeburn.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 94, repro., as Jean Christie by Raeburn.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 278, repro., as Jean Christie, by Raeburn.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 323, repro., by Raeburn.
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: 207-208, repro. 207.

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