Self-Portrait

John Smart (1741–1811), Madras, India, 1793;

To his son-in-law, John Dighton (1761–1840), Madras, India, and Gloucestershire, England, by 1795–1840 [1];

Possibly inherited by his sister, Lucy Machen (née Dighton, 1757–1855), Gloucestershire, 1840–1855 [2];

Possibly by descent to her son, Edward Machen (1783–1862), Gloucestershire, 1855–1862;

Possibly by descent to his son, Rev. Edward Machen (1817–1893), Gloucestershire, 1862–1893;

By descent to his son, Charles Edward Machen (1849–1917), Gloucestershire, 1893–1917 [3];

By descent to his son, Henry Arthur Ilbert Machen (1880–1958), Gloucestershire, 1917–1958 [4];

By descent to his children, James Edward Hugo Henry Machen (1910–1992) and Joan Hildegarde Sabine Machen (1912–2001), 1958–October 19, 1981;

Purchased from their sale, Silhouettes and Important Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby, Parke, Bernet, London, October 19, 1981, lot 184, as A Self-Portrait, by Dr. Erika Polh-Ströher (1919–2016), Switzerland, 1981–2016 [5];

Purchased from Dr. Polh-Ströher’s posthumous sale, Old Master Day Sale, Sotheby’s, London, July 29, 2020, lot 247, as Self-Portrait, by a private collector, London, 2020–2023;

With Lowell Libson and Jonny Yarker Ltd, London, 2023–2024;

Purchased from Lowell Libson and Jonny Yarker by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2024.

Notes

[1] It is possible that John Smart first gifted his daughter, Sophia Dighton (née Smart, 1768–1793), the drawing, but she died in Madras in the summer of 1793. Smart left for London in 1795, and John Dighton remained in Madras until around 1821.

[2] John Dighton’s sister, Lucy Machen (née Dighton), is his only sibling who outlived him.

[3] According to the October 19, 1981, sale, Charles Edward Machen had “4 children, including the father of the present owner of the Smart-Dighton portraits.”

[4] Henry Arthur Ilbert Machen had three other siblings: Charles Edward Machen died in his 20s or 30s with no known spouse or kids; Lucy Machen; and Lionel Machen, who immigrated to Australia in 1912. The description, “4 children, including the father” implies a son, not a daughter, so Lucy likely did not inherit the portrait. This suggests that Henry was the inheritor. This is confirmed by Arthur Jaffé, “John Smart, Miniature Painter—1741(?)–1811: His Life and Iconography,” Art Quarterly 17, no. 3 (Autumn 1954): 252, which describes the 1793 Self-Portrait as in the “Collection of H. A. Matchen, Esq., Gloucestershire.”

[5] Lots 184–89 were listed as, “The property of a descendant of the Dighton family.” Lot 184 is described as, “A self-portrait, head and shoulders in profile to dexter, with hair en queue, pencil on paper, rectangular gilt gesso frame, oval 6 3/8 in.; 16.2 cm. This portrait would seem to have been executed at about the same period as the self-portrait illustrated by Foskett (D.), John Smart, 1964, pl. III, fig. 7, which is dated 1797, but it is likely that as it belongs to the group of portraits below, which were all painted in Madras between 1790 and 1792. It may be a few years earlier in date than this, and prior to his departure from India in 1795.” According to the attached price list, lot 184 sold for 3,300 pounds. The illustration shows a framed border around the self-portrait, which conceals the artist’s inscription, and therefore explains the work’s then-unknown date.