John Van der Wall

Provenance

Probably in the possession of the Cowan family from c. 1800 [according to a letter of May 14, 1969 from William Plomer of Agnew’s to Richard Reed Armstrong, copy in curatorial file, also stating that the Cowans were collateral relations of the Van der Wall family]; Admiral Sir Walter Cowan, Bt., K.C.B., D.S.O., M.V.O. (died 1956) [according to a label on the stretcher]; by descent to his daughter Miss M. Cowan; offered for sale, Sotheby’s, London, November 22, 1967, no. 45, bought in at £400 [the published sales results list the work as having been bought by “Stevenson”, but since it was Miss Cowan’s to sell in 1969 it must have been bought in]; sold by Miss Cowan to Agnew, London, May 14, 1969 [letter dated 19 March, 1993, from Gabriel Naughton to Malcolm Warner in curatorial file]; sold on the same day by Agnew to Richard Reed Amrstrong [letter cited above]; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Reed Armstrong, Chicago, from 1969; given to the Art Institute, 1980.