Portrait of a Woman, Possibly Joyce, Lady Lake

Charles Wheeley Lea (1827–1898), Hallow, Worcestershire, England, by 1865 [1];

With the Duveen Brothers, London, by 1904 [2];

Unknown woman, by 1937;

Purchased from the unknown woman’s sale, Sketches and Studies for Miniature Portraits by John Smart, Christie’s, London, November 26, 1937, lot 99, as Joyce, Lady Lake, by Cartwright, 1937 [3];

Unknown woman, by 1949;

Purchased from the unknown woman’s sale, Fine Sicilian Jewellery, Objects of Vertu, Fine Portrait Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, October 27, 1949, lot 141, as Lady Lake, by Leggatt Brothers, London, probably on behalf of Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, 1949–1958 [4];

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

Notes

[1] Charles’s wife, Amy Mary Lea (née Jacomb, 1834–1916), may have inherited the miniature after his death in 1898, but it is uncertain if it passed directly from Mr. or Mrs. Lea to the Duveen Brothers.

[2] An annotated card accompanying the miniature in Duveen’s stock album is inscribed, “1953 / CTT / Joyce, Lady Lake / daughter of John / Crowther, & wife of / Sir James Winter Lake / 4^th Baronet / Exhib^td Loan Exbⁿ / S. Kensington 1865. / By. R. Cosway 1742–1821.” See “Decorative Arts: Miniatures,” Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Duveen Brothers records, 1876-1981 (bulk 1909-1964), Series VII, boxes 554–56, Series VII.D. Decorative arts, 1898-circa 1960, images 42–43. The miniature was illustrated in George C. Williamson, The History of Portrait Miniatures, vol. 1 (London: George Bell and Sons, 1904), facing p. 122, and mentioned on p. 124 as being in Duveen’s collection.

[3] According to the catalogue, lots 84–112 was “the Property of a Lady.” The miniature is described in the catalogue as “Portrait of Joyce, Lady Lake, nearly profile to the left, in white décolleté dress—circular diamond frame. Exhibited at South Kensington, 1865. No. 1248. From the Collection of Mr. Lea.” According to Art Prices Current (1937–1938), Cartwright bought lot 99 for 16 pounds. “Cartwright” may have been a portrait miniature dealer, but it remains uncertain. An Olga and Nina Cartwright Dickson were painted in miniature by Alice Mott in London in 1894 and 1896, more than forty years before this sale.

[4] According to the catalogue, lots 138–144 was “the Property of a Lady.” The miniature is described in the catalogue as “A Miniature of Lady Lake, by Cosway, head and shoulders three-quarters sinister, gaze directed at spectator, fair hair adorned with pearls, in low-cut white dress, faded cloud and sky background, round oval, 2 1/2 in.; in diamond-bordered frame. See Illustration.” The sales catalogue is located at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Miller Nichols Library and is likely annotated by Mr. or Mrs. Starr with a circled lot number, a checkmark, “Leggatt,” and “92.” Leggatt Brothers bought lot 141 for 92 pounds. 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.