Beyond a Cincinnati Legacy: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fleischmann III, Part I

Provenance:

Rt. Hon. Lord Haldon, Haldon House, Exeter;

sold at auction by Christie's, The Collection of Capital Pictures by Old Masters, From Haldon House, Exeter, London, February 28, 1891, no, 69;

Rt. Hon. Lord Scarsdale and Marquess Curzon of Kedleston;

thence acquired by a private collector purportedly named Naylor, London;

sold at auction by Christie's, The Scarsdale Heirlooms, London, Jul 18, 1930, no. 51;

Rt. Hon. the Earl of Feversham;

purportedly imported by John Nicolson, American art dealer and collector; 

by descent to his son, Peter Nicholson, New York City, New York, 1931;

Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York City, New York, 1961;

purchased by Max Safron, New York City, New York, September 1961;

thence acquired by the present owner, September 1967.

Literature:

Thomas Humphrey Ward and William Roberts, Romney: a Biographical and Critical Essay, with a Catalogue Raisonné of his Works, Vol. II (London: Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1904), p. 174.

Previously attributed to both George Romney (English, 1734-1802) and John Russell (English, 1745-1808), this painting has been the subject of much scrutiny and research not only by Skip Fleischmann but also by leading experts in the field of eighteenth-century British art. Fleishmann diligently documented his correspondence with curators, auction specialists, and collectors familiar with the oeuvres of both Romney and Russell, albeit seemingly without firm resolution.

In a letter to Fleischmann from John Wilson, Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Cincinnati Art Museum dated February 27, 1991, Wilson comments on the dubiousness of the Ward and Roberts authentication, stating that Roberts was "the [Sotheby's] sale room correspondent for The Times who...would authenticate anything for a fiver....the Russell/Beechey [sic] track [for attribution] is certainly the right one to take."

Contradictorily, Richard Hall, Director of Sotheby's in Chester, wrote to Fleischmann on November 22, 1990, that if Sotheby's were to offer the painting at auction, they would "attribute it John W. Chandler and not Thomas Beach and definitely not George Romney." A previous appraisal report prepared for the Fleischmann family sides with Hall over Wilson regarding the painting's authorship, noting that "the attached plaque is erroneous in attributing the work to John Russell."

Further research from the Cincinnati Art Museum curatorial staff in 2004 alleges that in preparation for the 1961 Parke-Bernet Galleries catalogue, the artist was changed from Romney to Russell, perhaps even at the suggestion of Safron in order to obtain the portrait for a lesser price, although this claim has not been verified.

The Wormald family held a seat as Lords of the Manor in Yorkshire, England as early as 1379. Given the timeline, the children depicted in the painting offered here could be the children or even grandchildren of Samuel Wormald (1726-1785), a prosperous tanner and timber merchant, who served as Yorkshire's Lord Mayor, Chamberlain (1765), and Sheriff (1767-1768). His son, also called Samuel (1755-1814), served as Lord Mayor of Yorkshire by 1809, and his six surviving children erected the Mount Snever Observatory, also known as Oldstead Tower, as a memorial to their parents in St. Margaret's, York, in 1838, on the occasion of Queen Victoria's coronation.

A collection of the Wormald family paintings, books, and coins was sold at auction in June of 1848, following the death of John Smith Wormald, one of Samuel's six children, earlier that year in March. The announcement of the sale was featured in the Yorkshire Gazette, but there was no specific mention of this painting.