Portrait of a Boy
Framed: 1 5/8 × 1 3/8 inches (4.13 × 3.49 cm)
Probably George J. Winner, by 1953 [1];
Purchased from his sale, Catalogue of Objects of Vertu, Portrait Miniatures, Watches, Gold Boxes, Etc., Sotheby’s, London, November 30, 1953, lot 98, as A Boy, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1953–1958 [2];
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1958.
NOTES:
[1] G. J. Winner, Esq. is probably George Joseph Winner (1910–1975) of Kensington, England, and father of the famous film director, Michael Winner.
[2] An annotated catalogue for this sale is located at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Miller Nichols Library. The annotations are most likely by Mr. or Mrs. Starr, with lot 98 circled, a slash, and “32.” According to the price list, Leggatt bought the miniature for £30. 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.
Catalogue of Objects of Vertu, Portrait Miniatures, Watches, Gold Boxes, Etc. (London: Sotheby’s, November 30, 1953), 12, as A Boy.
Martha Jane and John W. Starr, “Collecting Portrait Miniatures,” Antiques 80, no. 5 (November 1961): (repro.).
Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 77, p. 28, (repro.), as Unknown Young Boy.
