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Portrait of a Man

Artist Richard Crosse (English, 1742 - 1810)
Dateca. 1765
MediumWatercolor on ivory; Bracelet insert with gold bezel
DimensionsSight: 1 1/4 × 1 1/16 inches (3.18 × 2.7 cm)
Framed: 1 5/16 × 1 1/8 × 1/16 inches (3.33 × 2.86 × 0.16 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Starr and the Starr Foundation, Inc.
Object numberF58-60/26
InscribedNone
On View
Not on view
Collections
DescriptionPortrait miniature of a man with natural hair wearing a blue suit before a brown background.Provenance

Unknown owner, by 1949 [1];

Purchased from the unknown owner’s sale, Fine Sicilian Jewellery, Objects of Vertu, Fine Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, October 27, 1949, lot 118, as A Man, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr.Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, by 1949–1958 [2];

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

Notes

[1] As noted in the Sotheby’s October 27, 1949, sale, “Other Properties” sold lots 70–126.

[2] The annotated catalogue for this sale is located at University of Missouri-Kansas City Miller Nichols Library. The annotations are most likely by Mr. or Mrs. Starr. Lot 118 is annotated in pencil with a checkmark and a circled lot number. “Leggatt” and “15” is written in pen directly below the lot. An attached price list confirms Leggatt purchased lot 118 for £15. The other miniature in lot 118, A Lady by Nathaniel Hone, is also now part of the Starr Collection; see F58-60/73. Archival research indicates that the Starrs purchased many miniatures from Leggatt Brothers, either directly or with Leggatt acting as their purchasing agent.

Published References

Catalogue of Fine Sicilian Jewellery, Objects of Vertu, Fine Portrait Miniatures (London: Sotheby’s, October 27, 1949), lot 118, as A Man.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 57, p. 23, (repro.), as Unknown Man.

Maggie Keenan, “Richard Crosse, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1765,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 2, ed.Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1350.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


recto overall
John Smart
1801
F65-41/42
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John Smart
1798
F65-41/39
recto overall
John Smart
1783
F65-41/24
recto overall
John Smart
1788
F65-41/29
recto overall
Nathaniel Hone I
1760
F58-60/73
recto overall
Thomas Redmond
ca. 1770
F58-60/75
recto overall
John Smart
1807
F65-41/48
recto overall
Richard Crosse
ca. 1765
F58-60/27
recto overall
Samuel Collins
1759
F58-60/133