Portrait of Juliana Wallace (née Drake)

Unknown owner, by June 21, 1951;

Purchased from the unknown owner’s sale, Fine Objects of Vertu and Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, June 21, 1951, lot 88, as Juliana Wallace (née Drake), by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1951–1958 [1];

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.

Notes

[1] According to the sales catalogue, “Various Properties” sold lots 79–98. The lot description states, “Juliana Wallace (née Drake), by Charles Forrest, signed and dated 1776, head and shoulders three-quarters dexter, as a young girl, in low-cut pink dress, with an elaborate enameled frame, 1 5/8 in. Charles Forrest, who worked in Dublin, exhibited in London at the Incorporated Society of Artists in 1776. His work is rare. An example was sold in these Rooms in the Croft Lyons sale in November, 1926, also dated 1776.”

An annotated sales catalogue is located at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Miller Nichols Library and is likely annotated by Mr. or Mrs. Starr with a check mark over the lot number, a question mark, and “28.” The attached price list also has a slash next to entry number 88. According to the price list, Leggatt bought lot 88 for 28 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.