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- Titles Mrs. Ogilvy (Former title)
- Artist Cornelis Jonson van Ceulen, I, Flemish, London 1593 - 1661 Utrecht
- Medium oil on panel
- Dimensions 43 1/2 × 31 1/2 × 1/4 in. (110.5 × 80 × 0.6 cm) frame: 52 3/16 × 40 1/2 × 4 5/8 in. (132.6 × 102.9 × 11.7 cm)
- Credit Line Bequest of Mrs. A. L. Fulenwider in memory of her sons, Howard M. and Leslie Fulenwider, 1954.2
- Work Type painting
- Classification Paintings
- Signature None
- Marks None
- Inscription Verso, top, across craddle slat, black marker: B.M.A.54.
- Provenance Charles Henry Wright, Collection of Halston Hall, Oswestry, Shropshire, England, as “Wife of Vandyke,” by 1891 [see note 1]; inherited by Louisa Elizabeth (Wright) Swann (1848-1922); auctioned at her sale, Mrs. Swann and Other Collections, Christie, Manson, & Woods, London, March 23, 1923, lot 24, as “Portrait of a Lady (said to be Lady van Dyck)”; purchased by "Collings," likely Frank W. Collings, Mayfair, London [see note 2]. Arthur Lewis Whitwam (1870-1940), Yorkshire, England; auctioned at his posthumous sale Old Pictures and Drawings, Christie’s, London, June 22, 1945, lot 30, as “Portrait of a Lady”; purchased by H. J. Spiller, London [see note 3]. Dealer Frost & Reed, London, by 1948, as "Mrs. Ogilvy" [see note 4]; possibly consigned to dealer Schaeffer Galleries, London, 1953 [see note 5]; by exchange from Frost & Reed to dealer Vose Galleries, Boston, January 31, 1953 [see note 6]; purchased by the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1954
1. A description of the art collection at Halston Hall includes the painting, see Francis Leach. The county seats of Shropshire: a series of descriptive sketches, with historical and antiquarian notes, of the principal family mansions. Shrewsbury: Eddowes's Shrewsbury Journal Office, 1891. 388. The Wright family had purchased Halston Hall in 1847.
2. An annotated auction catalogue at the Getty Research Institute lists the buyer as “Collings.” Art Prices Current. London: Wm. Dawson & Sons ltd. 1922/23. 138 confirms that Collings is the name written in cursive in the Getty catalogue. This is most likely Frank W. Collings, who operated a picture gallery at 49 Old Bond Street in 1911, at 49 Dover Street in 1927, and at 23 Ryder Street as late as 1939. He was a fairly active purchaser at Christie auctions from 1907 through at least 1922.
3. According to an annotated copy of the auction catalog at the Getty Research Institute. See also Vose Galleries ledger record, see copy in the object file.
4. A photograph of 1954.2 provided by Frost & Reed to the Witt Library, Courtauld Institute of Art is dated 1948.
5. In 1973, Schaffer donated a photograph of 1954.2 to the National Gallery of Art. The photo is undated, but “Portrait of Mrs. Ogilvy” is inscribed on the reverse. In addition, the Schaeffer Archive at the Getty Research Institute includes correspondence with Frost & Reed from 1953, and from no other year. Schaeffer could have corresponded with Frost & Reed about the portrait in 1953, and perhaps took it on consignment. However, Vose Galleries purchased the portrait from Frost & Reed on January 31, 1953, so Schaeffer held the portrait for a very short period, if at all.
6. Vose Galleries stock no. 17460. Vose Galleries ledger records, see object file at the Birmingham Museum of Art.The ledger claims that the painting was “a Hungerford heirloom from Farley Castle.” This would be Farleigh Hungerford Castle in Somerset, England. This appears to contradict the known Halston Hall provenance. The sitter is here identified, without evidence, as Mrs. Ogilvy.
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