Triumph of Caesar: The Elephants

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), London, by 1792 [1];

His posthumous sale, All the Great and Valuable Collection of Ancient Drawings, Scarce Prints, and Books of Prints, which Belonged to Sir Joshua Reynolds, H. Phillips, London, March 5-22, 1798, possibly lot 188 [2];

John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick (1770-1859), Northwick Park and Thirlestone House, Cheltenham, England, by 1859 [3];

By descent to his nephew, George Rushout, 3rd Baron Northwick (1811-1887), Northwick Park, England, 1859-1887;

By inheritance to his wife, Hon. Elizabeth Augusta Rushout (née Bateman-Hanbury), Baroness Northwick (1832-1912), Northwick Park, England, 1887-1912;

By descent to her grandson, Captain Edward George Spencer-Churchill (1876-1964), Northwick Park, England, 1912-1933 [4];

Purchased at his sale, Alte Graphik aus der Sammlung Lord Northwick aus Northwick Park, England, aus der Sammlung König Friedrich August II. von Sachsen, C. G. Boerner, Leipzig, May 22-24, 1933, lot 270, by W. G. Russell Allen (1882-1955), Boston, 1933 [5];

With Alden Galleries, Kansas City, MO, by December 1933;

Purchased from Alden Galleries by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933.

NOTES:

[1] Reynolds' collector's mark, Lugt 2364, appears in black ink on the verso of the print.

[2] Many of the prints in this sale were sold in groups, so it is difficult to determine in which lot this print was sold.

[3] Baron Northwick’s collector's mark, Lugt 2709a, appears in brown ink on the verso of the print.

[4] A Mantegna print of this subject was offered for sale at Magnificent Engravings & Woodcuts by Old Masters, The Property of the Late John. Lord Northwick, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, May 28, 1918, lot 56. It is unclear if this print is the same as the Nelson-Atkins print, but if it was, it likely did not sell as the Nelson-Atkins print remained in the collection of Lord Northwick’s heirs until its sale in 1933.

[5] According to Andrea Langenberger, C. G. Boerner, in an email exchange with MacKenzie Mallon, Specialist, Provenance, December 18-19, 2019, NAMA curatorial files, C. G. Boerner’s catalogue from the May 22-24, 1933 sale includes an annotation next to lot 270 with Friedrich August II’s name. Although Friedrich August II’s heirs also offered prints at this sale, this may be a recording error, since according to Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d’Estampes, the Northwick collectors’ mark that appears on this print was only affixed to prints sold by Spencer-Churchill from Northwick’s collection at the May 1933 sale. Alternatively, the annotation in C. G. Boerner’s sale catalogue may indicate it was in Friedrich August II’s collection prior to Northwick’s ownership, as versions of the same print were sold in earlier Friedrich August II sales. Either way, Friedrich August II’s collector’s mark does not appear on the print.