Portrait of Horatio Townsend

Probably commissioned by the sitter, Horatio Townsend (1768–1824), Cork, Ireland, by 1800–1824;

Inherited by his wife, Elizabeth Trelawney Townsend (1775–1855), London, 1824–1855;

By descent to their son, Lieutenant John Townsend (1815–1884), Ellenborough Park, Weston-Super-Mare, 1855–1884 [1];

Possibly inherited by his wife, Marianne Oliver Townsend (1833–1910), Ellenborough Park, Weston-Super-Mare, 1884–1910 [2];

Possibly by descent to their son, Rev. Edward Mansel Townsend (1860–1947), England and Wales, 1910 [3];

Unknown owner, by December 19, 1950 [4];

Purchased at the unknown owner’s sale, Fine Gold Snuff Boxes, Objects of Art and Vertu, Miniatures, Coins, and Watches, Christie’s, London, December 19, 1950, lot 42, as Portrait of Horatio Townsend, Esq., by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1950–1965 [5];

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1965.

Notes

[1] “Lieut. John Townsend” exhibited a group of family portrait miniatures by John Smart, including the Nelson-Atkins portrait, in an 1862 South Kensington Museum exhibition. He is also referred to as Commander Townsend.

[2] Two miniatures previously in the collection of Lieut. John Townsend sold at Christie’s July 17, 1945, sale. They list the miniatures’ provenance as, “Mrs. Townsend in 1905,” implying that Townsend’s wife, Marianne, likely had the Nelson-Atkins miniature in her collection then.

[3] According to Richard Baxter Townshend and Dorothea Baker Townshend, “Addenda,” An Officer of the Long Parliament and His Descendants (London: Oxford University, 1892), 280: “Miniatures of Commander Townshend and his wife are in the possession of Mrs. Edward Townshend.” Rev. Edward Mansel Townsend’s wife, Jessie Frances Townsend (née Young, 1870–1933), could have been called Mrs. Edward Townsend. However, she died before him, so the portrait miniatures likely stayed within his possession.

[4] According to the 1950 sales catalogue, lots 1–42 were from “Different Properties.”

[5] The lot description states, “Portrait of Horatio Townsend, Esq., by John Smart, signed with initials and dated 1800, three-quarter face to the left, wearing blue coat and white stock, oval, 2 in. high, in leather case, with velvet stand.” According to Art Prices Current (1950–51), Leggatt bought lot 42 for £84.

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. 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.