Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009275About the Artwork
Mary’s modest and contemplative demeanor is a counterpoint to a rather elaborate ensemble consisting of a gown embroidered with gold flower sprigs, trimmed with lace and pearls, and tied with a gold sash, as well as a gold-striped veil and a bracelet with eight gold bands. Gainsborough’s compact oval format and the sitter’s informal pose lend this portrait an air of intimacy.
Provenance
around 1776-?: Mrs. Henry Christopher Wise (née Mary Wathen) [born 1751] by descent to her great-granddaughter, Catherine Waller ?-1892: Catherine [1804-1861] and Sir Thomas Wathen Waller, 2nd Bt [1805-1892], by descent to their grandson, Sir Francis Grant Waller 1892-1910: Sir Francis Grant Waller, 4th Bt, sold to Agnew 1910: (Agnew, London, sold to Duveen) 1910: (Duveen, through Romer Williams) ?: (F. Kleinberger Galleries, New York, NY) 1913: (Duveen) ?-1944: Elizabeth Severance Prentiss Allen [1865-1944], Cleveland, OH, bequeathed by her to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1944-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Masterworks from Giotto to the Impressionists. Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI (organizer) (October 4-30, 1949). Montgomery Arts Festival. Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL (organizer) (April 29-May 13, 1955). British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–1788)
- Date
- c. 1774
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Unframed: 76.2 x 63.6 cm (30 x 25 1/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection
- Accession no.
- 1944.82
More by Thomas Gainsborough in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009275
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