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Morning muster aboard the Ginga Maru (Tokyo) docked at the Osanbashi Passenger Terminal in Yokohama. She is a training ship, although it’s unclear (to me) as to whether these are civilian or military sailors, although there are several either civilian or non-training crew aboard as well, as they didn’t salute the officer in charge.
John Musters
West Building, Main Floor—Gallery 59
•Date: 1777-c. 1780
•Medium: Oil on Canvas
•Dimensions:
oOverall: 238.5 × 147.3 cm (93⅞ × 58 in.)
oFramed: 267.7 × 175.6 cm (105⅜ × 69⅛ in.)
•Credit Line: Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by The Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Accession Number: 1961.2.2
•Artists/Makers:
oArtist: Sir Joshua Reynolds, British, 1723-1792
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by inheritance to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick Hall; (his estate sale, at Colwick Hall by J.M. Pott, 9-13 and 16 December 1850, 4th day [Dec. 12], no. 680, bought in); by inheritance to his grandson, John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall; his estate; sold 3 July 1888 to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 10 July 1888 to Sir Edward Cecil Guinness [later 1st earl of Iveagh, 1847-1927], Dublin, London, Cowes, and Elveden Hall, Suffolk; sold 19 November 1892 back to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 29 June 1897 to (William Lockett Agnew, London).[1] private collection [“a lady”]; consigned for her by (William Lockett Agnew, London) to (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no.101); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold two days later to Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th duke of Marlborough [1871-1934];[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104); bought by (Lane) for Sir W. Hutcheson Poë, Bt., Batchwood Hall, near St. Albans;[3] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London);[4] sold the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston; The Fuller Foundation, Boston; gift 1961 to NGA.
[1]The purchase of the painting by Guinness and its sale back to Agnew is discussed in Julius Bryant, Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest, New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417; this reference was kindly brought to the Gallery’s attention by a descendant of the sitter, Robert Chaworth-Musters, in an e-mail of 7 July 2015, copy in NGA curatorial files. The Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. Archive was acquired in 2014 by the National Gallery Archive, London, and the picture stock books have since been digitized and made available on-line. The Reynolds is recorded on page 92 of the stock book for 1885-1891 (reference number NGA27/1/1/7), and on page 35 of the stock book for 1891-1898 (reference number NGA27/1/1/8); copies in NGA curatorial files.
[2]Agnew stock books, recorded by The Getty Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, California. See also letter of 9 June 1988 from Martha Hepworth at The Getty Provenance Index, in NGA curatorial files.
[3]The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poë.
[4]Details of the consignors and buyers at the 1901, 1907, and 1927 Christie’s sales were kindly confirmed by Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie’s Archives, in her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
•Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Thomas
•Agnew, William Lockett
•Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
•Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Fuller, Alvan T.
•Musters, II, John
•Musters, John
•Musters, John Chaworth
•Poë, 1st Bt., William Hutcheson, Sir
•Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, Charles Richard John
Exhibition History
•1878—Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57.
•1885—Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189.
•1895—20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, 1895, no. 15.
•1910—Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9, repro.
•1928—Exhibition of Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24.
•1939—Art in New England: Paintings, Drawings, Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pl. 56.
•1959—A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
•2002—Loan to display with permanent collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, 2002-2003.
Technical Summary
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.[1] The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
[1]Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
Bibliography
•1865—Leslie, Charles Robert and Tom Taylor. Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 2 vols. London, 1865: 2:202, 302.
•1899—Graves, Algernon and William Vine Cronin. A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 4 vols. London, 1899-1901: 2:487-488.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900: 221.
•1941—Waterhouse, Sir Ellis. Reynolds. London, 1941: 69, pl. 192.
•1963—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 319, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1965—Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 114, as Squire Musters.
•1968—European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 101, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1969—Watson, Ross. “British Paintings in the National Gallery of Art.” The Connoisseur 172 (1969): 56, repro., 57-58.
•1975—European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 304, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1975—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 505, color repro.
•1981—Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 12, repro. 14, as Squire Musters.
•1984—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 361, no. 502, color repro., as Squire Musters.
•1985—European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 349, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1992—Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 215-217, repro. 216.
•2003—Bryant, Julius. Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest. New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 352, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417.
From British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries:
1961.2.2 (1603)
John Musters
•1777-c. 1780
•Oil on Canvas, 238.5 × 147.3 (93⅞ × 58)
•Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation, Inc.
Technical Notes
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.} The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by descent to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick (sale, Pott, on the premises, 12 December 1850, no. 680, bought in); by descent to John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall. (William Lockett Agnew), by 1895 (anon. [Agnew] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no. 101, bought in), but sold two days later to Charles, 9th Duke of Marlborough2 (anon. [Marlborough] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104, repro.), bought by Lane for Sir W. Hutcheson Poe, Bt.3 (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58, repro.), bought by (Thos. Agnew & Sons), London, who sold it the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston. The Fuller Foundation, Boston.
Exhibitions
Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57. Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased M asters of the British School, Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189. 20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1895, no. 15. Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9. Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24. Paintings Drawings Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pi. 56. A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
John Musters (1753-1827), high sheriff of Nottingham in 1777, who in July 1776 married Sophia Catherine Heywood of Maristow, Devon, was a keen sportsman. Stubbs painted three separate equestrian portraits of him the year after his marriage, one with his wife, one with the Reverend Philip Strong, and one of him on his own.4 Fanny Burney noted in her diary in 1779 that Mrs. Musters, “an exceeding pretty woman,” was “the reigning toast of the season.”5 Their son Jack, athletic and handsome, married the rich and beautiful Mary Anne Chaworth, the first love of the poet Byron.
John and Sophia Musters sat to Reynolds for full-length portraits in November 1777 and May 1780.6 A half payment of 150 guineas, Reynolds’ advance for starting a pair of full-length portraits from 1764 until 1782, was made in December 1777.7 The portrait of Sophia shows her with a sprig of flowers in her hand and a spaniel at her feet. Mrs. Musters sat several times to Reynolds, notably in May 1782 for a full length as Hebe, now at the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood.
The portrait shows the sitter elegantly dressed, wearing a plain, tight-fitting frock coat and a yellow spotted waistcoat, holding a formal tricorne hat and standing in the cross-legged pose fashionable in British portraiture from the 1740s. The large buttons, which became fashionable from about 1775, support a dating in the second half of the 1770s.
The head is firmly modeled and displays the confident pride of the young aristocrat. The open landscape background, with enlivening groups of plants and flowers painted around the sitter’s feet, can be paralleled in other portraits by Reynolds of the period, but the absence of any large tree form as repoussoir or support for the figure is exceptional; both landscape and sky are very heavily overpainted.
Notes
1.Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
2.Agnew stock books, recorded by The Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Santa Monica, California.
3.The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poe.
4.These are still in the family possession (the first two were exhibited at George Stubbs 1724-1806, Tate Gallery, London; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1984-1985, nos. 116-117, color repro.).
5.Charlotte Barrett, ed., Diary & Letters of Madame D’Arblay, 6 vols. (London, 1904-1905), 1:283.
6.Graves and Cronin, 1899-1901, 2:682.
7.Malcolm Cormack, “The Ledgers of Sir Joshua Reynolds,” The Walpole Society 42 (1970), 158.
References
•1865—Leslie and Taylor 1865, 2:203, 229, 313.
•1899—Graves and Cronin 1899, 2:681-682.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900:221.
•1941—Waterhouse 1941: 69, pl. 192.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
An Australian team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
An Australian team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
A local team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
A Spanish team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
A Spanish team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
An Australian team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
John Musters
West Building, Main Floor—Gallery 59
•Date: 1777-c. 1780
•Medium: Oil on Canvas
•Dimensions:
oOverall: 238.5 × 147.3 cm (93⅞ × 58 in.)
oFramed: 267.7 × 175.6 cm (105⅜ × 69⅛ in.)
•Credit Line: Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by The Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Accession Number: 1961.2.2
•Artists/Makers:
oArtist: Sir Joshua Reynolds, British, 1723-1792
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by inheritance to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick Hall; (his estate sale, at Colwick Hall by J.M. Pott, 9-13 and 16 December 1850, 4th day [Dec. 12], no. 680, bought in); by inheritance to his grandson, John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall; his estate; sold 3 July 1888 to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 10 July 1888 to Sir Edward Cecil Guinness [later 1st earl of Iveagh, 1847-1927], Dublin, London, Cowes, and Elveden Hall, Suffolk; sold 19 November 1892 back to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 29 June 1897 to (William Lockett Agnew, London).[1] private collection [“a lady”]; consigned for her by (William Lockett Agnew, London) to (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no.101); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold two days later to Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th duke of Marlborough [1871-1934];[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104); bought by (Lane) for Sir W. Hutcheson Poë, Bt., Batchwood Hall, near St. Albans;[3] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London);[4] sold the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston; The Fuller Foundation, Boston; gift 1961 to NGA.
[1]The purchase of the painting by Guinness and its sale back to Agnew is discussed in Julius Bryant, Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest, New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417; this reference was kindly brought to the Gallery’s attention by a descendant of the sitter, Robert Chaworth-Musters, in an e-mail of 7 July 2015, copy in NGA curatorial files. The Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. Archive was acquired in 2014 by the National Gallery Archive, London, and the picture stock books have since been digitized and made available on-line. The Reynolds is recorded on page 92 of the stock book for 1885-1891 (reference number NGA27/1/1/7), and on page 35 of the stock book for 1891-1898 (reference number NGA27/1/1/8); copies in NGA curatorial files.
[2]Agnew stock books, recorded by The Getty Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, California. See also letter of 9 June 1988 from Martha Hepworth at The Getty Provenance Index, in NGA curatorial files.
[3]The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poë.
[4]Details of the consignors and buyers at the 1901, 1907, and 1927 Christie’s sales were kindly confirmed by Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie’s Archives, in her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
•Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Thomas
•Agnew, William Lockett
•Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
•Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Fuller, Alvan T.
•Musters, II, John
•Musters, John
•Musters, John Chaworth
•Poë, 1st Bt., William Hutcheson, Sir
•Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, Charles Richard John
Exhibition History
•1878—Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57.
•1885—Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189.
•1895—20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, 1895, no. 15.
•1910—Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9, repro.
•1928—Exhibition of Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24.
•1939—Art in New England: Paintings, Drawings, Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pl. 56.
•1959—A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
•2002—Loan to display with permanent collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, 2002-2003.
Technical Summary
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.[1] The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
[1]Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
Bibliography
•1865—Leslie, Charles Robert and Tom Taylor. Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 2 vols. London, 1865: 2:202, 302.
•1899—Graves, Algernon and William Vine Cronin. A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 4 vols. London, 1899-1901: 2:487-488.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900: 221.
•1941—Waterhouse, Sir Ellis. Reynolds. London, 1941: 69, pl. 192.
•1963—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 319, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1965—Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 114, as Squire Musters.
•1968—European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 101, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1969—Watson, Ross. “British Paintings in the National Gallery of Art.” The Connoisseur 172 (1969): 56, repro., 57-58.
•1975—European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 304, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1975—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 505, color repro.
•1981—Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 12, repro. 14, as Squire Musters.
•1984—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 361, no. 502, color repro., as Squire Musters.
•1985—European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 349, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1992—Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 215-217, repro. 216.
•2003—Bryant, Julius. Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest. New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 352, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417.
From British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries:
1961.2.2 (1603)
John Musters
•1777-c. 1780
•Oil on Canvas, 238.5 × 147.3 (93⅞ × 58)
•Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation, Inc.
Technical Notes
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.} The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by descent to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick (sale, Pott, on the premises, 12 December 1850, no. 680, bought in); by descent to John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall. (William Lockett Agnew), by 1895 (anon. [Agnew] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no. 101, bought in), but sold two days later to Charles, 9th Duke of Marlborough2 (anon. [Marlborough] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104, repro.), bought by Lane for Sir W. Hutcheson Poe, Bt.3 (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58, repro.), bought by (Thos. Agnew & Sons), London, who sold it the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston. The Fuller Foundation, Boston.
Exhibitions
Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57. Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased M asters of the British School, Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189. 20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1895, no. 15. Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9. Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24. Paintings Drawings Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pi. 56. A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
John Musters (1753-1827), high sheriff of Nottingham in 1777, who in July 1776 married Sophia Catherine Heywood of Maristow, Devon, was a keen sportsman. Stubbs painted three separate equestrian portraits of him the year after his marriage, one with his wife, one with the Reverend Philip Strong, and one of him on his own.4 Fanny Burney noted in her diary in 1779 that Mrs. Musters, “an exceeding pretty woman,” was “the reigning toast of the season.”5 Their son Jack, athletic and handsome, married the rich and beautiful Mary Anne Chaworth, the first love of the poet Byron.
John and Sophia Musters sat to Reynolds for full-length portraits in November 1777 and May 1780.6 A half payment of 150 guineas, Reynolds’ advance for starting a pair of full-length portraits from 1764 until 1782, was made in December 1777.7 The portrait of Sophia shows her with a sprig of flowers in her hand and a spaniel at her feet. Mrs. Musters sat several times to Reynolds, notably in May 1782 for a full length as Hebe, now at the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood.
The portrait shows the sitter elegantly dressed, wearing a plain, tight-fitting frock coat and a yellow spotted waistcoat, holding a formal tricorne hat and standing in the cross-legged pose fashionable in British portraiture from the 1740s. The large buttons, which became fashionable from about 1775, support a dating in the second half of the 1770s.
The head is firmly modeled and displays the confident pride of the young aristocrat. The open landscape background, with enlivening groups of plants and flowers painted around the sitter’s feet, can be paralleled in other portraits by Reynolds of the period, but the absence of any large tree form as repoussoir or support for the figure is exceptional; both landscape and sky are very heavily overpainted.
Notes
1.Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
2.Agnew stock books, recorded by The Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Santa Monica, California.
3.The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poe.
4.These are still in the family possession (the first two were exhibited at George Stubbs 1724-1806, Tate Gallery, London; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1984-1985, nos. 116-117, color repro.).
5.Charlotte Barrett, ed., Diary & Letters of Madame D’Arblay, 6 vols. (London, 1904-1905), 1:283.
6.Graves and Cronin, 1899-1901, 2:682.
7.Malcolm Cormack, “The Ledgers of Sir Joshua Reynolds,” The Walpole Society 42 (1970), 158.
References
•1865—Leslie and Taylor 1865, 2:203, 229, 313.
•1899—Graves and Cronin 1899, 2:681-682.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900:221.
•1941—Waterhouse 1941: 69, pl. 192.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
An Australian team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
A Spanish team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
A Spanish team takes part in the event.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
An Australian team takes part in the event.
John Musters
West Building, Main Floor—Gallery 59
•Date: 1777-c. 1780
•Medium: Oil on Canvas
•Dimensions:
oOverall: 238.5 × 147.3 cm (93⅞ × 58 in.)
oFramed: 267.7 × 175.6 cm (105⅜ × 69⅛ in.)
•Credit Line: Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by The Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Accession Number: 1961.2.2
•Artists/Makers:
oArtist: Sir Joshua Reynolds, British, 1723-1792
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by inheritance to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick Hall; (his estate sale, at Colwick Hall by J.M. Pott, 9-13 and 16 December 1850, 4th day [Dec. 12], no. 680, bought in); by inheritance to his grandson, John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall; his estate; sold 3 July 1888 to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 10 July 1888 to Sir Edward Cecil Guinness [later 1st earl of Iveagh, 1847-1927], Dublin, London, Cowes, and Elveden Hall, Suffolk; sold 19 November 1892 back to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 29 June 1897 to (William Lockett Agnew, London).[1] private collection [“a lady”]; consigned for her by (William Lockett Agnew, London) to (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no.101); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold two days later to Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th duke of Marlborough [1871-1934];[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104); bought by (Lane) for Sir W. Hutcheson Poë, Bt., Batchwood Hall, near St. Albans;[3] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London);[4] sold the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston; The Fuller Foundation, Boston; gift 1961 to NGA.
[1]The purchase of the painting by Guinness and its sale back to Agnew is discussed in Julius Bryant, Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest, New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417; this reference was kindly brought to the Gallery’s attention by a descendant of the sitter, Robert Chaworth-Musters, in an e-mail of 7 July 2015, copy in NGA curatorial files. The Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. Archive was acquired in 2014 by the National Gallery Archive, London, and the picture stock books have since been digitized and made available on-line. The Reynolds is recorded on page 92 of the stock book for 1885-1891 (reference number NGA27/1/1/7), and on page 35 of the stock book for 1891-1898 (reference number NGA27/1/1/8); copies in NGA curatorial files.
[2]Agnew stock books, recorded by The Getty Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, California. See also letter of 9 June 1988 from Martha Hepworth at The Getty Provenance Index, in NGA curatorial files.
[3]The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poë.
[4]Details of the consignors and buyers at the 1901, 1907, and 1927 Christie’s sales were kindly confirmed by Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie’s Archives, in her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
•Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Thomas
•Agnew, William Lockett
•Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
•Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Fuller, Alvan T.
•Musters, II, John
•Musters, John
•Musters, John Chaworth
•Poë, 1st Bt., William Hutcheson, Sir
•Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, Charles Richard John
Exhibition History
•1878—Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57.
•1885—Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189.
•1895—20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, 1895, no. 15.
•1910—Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9, repro.
•1928—Exhibition of Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24.
•1939—Art in New England: Paintings, Drawings, Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pl. 56.
•1959—A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
•2002—Loan to display with permanent collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, 2002-2003.
Technical Summary
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.[1] The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
[1]Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
Bibliography
•1865—Leslie, Charles Robert and Tom Taylor. Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 2 vols. London, 1865: 2:202, 302.
•1899—Graves, Algernon and William Vine Cronin. A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 4 vols. London, 1899-1901: 2:487-488.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900: 221.
•1941—Waterhouse, Sir Ellis. Reynolds. London, 1941: 69, pl. 192.
•1963—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 319, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1965—Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 114, as Squire Musters.
•1968—European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 101, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1969—Watson, Ross. “British Paintings in the National Gallery of Art.” The Connoisseur 172 (1969): 56, repro., 57-58.
•1975—European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 304, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1975—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 505, color repro.
•1981—Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 12, repro. 14, as Squire Musters.
•1984—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 361, no. 502, color repro., as Squire Musters.
•1985—European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 349, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1992—Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 215-217, repro. 216.
•2003—Bryant, Julius. Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest. New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 352, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417.
From British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries:
1961.2.2 (1603)
John Musters
•1777-c. 1780
•Oil on Canvas, 238.5 × 147.3 (93⅞ × 58)
•Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation, Inc.
Technical Notes
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.} The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by descent to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick (sale, Pott, on the premises, 12 December 1850, no. 680, bought in); by descent to John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall. (William Lockett Agnew), by 1895 (anon. [Agnew] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no. 101, bought in), but sold two days later to Charles, 9th Duke of Marlborough2 (anon. [Marlborough] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104, repro.), bought by Lane for Sir W. Hutcheson Poe, Bt.3 (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58, repro.), bought by (Thos. Agnew & Sons), London, who sold it the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston. The Fuller Foundation, Boston.
Exhibitions
Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57. Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased M asters of the British School, Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189. 20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1895, no. 15. Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9. Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24. Paintings Drawings Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pi. 56. A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
John Musters (1753-1827), high sheriff of Nottingham in 1777, who in July 1776 married Sophia Catherine Heywood of Maristow, Devon, was a keen sportsman. Stubbs painted three separate equestrian portraits of him the year after his marriage, one with his wife, one with the Reverend Philip Strong, and one of him on his own.4 Fanny Burney noted in her diary in 1779 that Mrs. Musters, “an exceeding pretty woman,” was “the reigning toast of the season.”5 Their son Jack, athletic and handsome, married the rich and beautiful Mary Anne Chaworth, the first love of the poet Byron.
John and Sophia Musters sat to Reynolds for full-length portraits in November 1777 and May 1780.6 A half payment of 150 guineas, Reynolds’ advance for starting a pair of full-length portraits from 1764 until 1782, was made in December 1777.7 The portrait of Sophia shows her with a sprig of flowers in her hand and a spaniel at her feet. Mrs. Musters sat several times to Reynolds, notably in May 1782 for a full length as Hebe, now at the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood.
The portrait shows the sitter elegantly dressed, wearing a plain, tight-fitting frock coat and a yellow spotted waistcoat, holding a formal tricorne hat and standing in the cross-legged pose fashionable in British portraiture from the 1740s. The large buttons, which became fashionable from about 1775, support a dating in the second half of the 1770s.
The head is firmly modeled and displays the confident pride of the young aristocrat. The open landscape background, with enlivening groups of plants and flowers painted around the sitter’s feet, can be paralleled in other portraits by Reynolds of the period, but the absence of any large tree form as repoussoir or support for the figure is exceptional; both landscape and sky are very heavily overpainted.
Notes
1.Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
2.Agnew stock books, recorded by The Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Santa Monica, California.
3.The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poe.
4.These are still in the family possession (the first two were exhibited at George Stubbs 1724-1806, Tate Gallery, London; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1984-1985, nos. 116-117, color repro.).
5.Charlotte Barrett, ed., Diary & Letters of Madame D’Arblay, 6 vols. (London, 1904-1905), 1:283.
6.Graves and Cronin, 1899-1901, 2:682.
7.Malcolm Cormack, “The Ledgers of Sir Joshua Reynolds,” The Walpole Society 42 (1970), 158.
References
•1865—Leslie and Taylor 1865, 2:203, 229, 313.
•1899—Graves and Cronin 1899, 2:681-682.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900:221.
•1941—Waterhouse 1941: 69, pl. 192.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
An Australian team takes part in the event.
John Musters
West Building, Main Floor—Gallery 59
•Date: 1777-c. 1780
•Medium: Oil on Canvas
•Dimensions:
oOverall: 238.5 × 147.3 cm (93⅞ × 58 in.)
oFramed: 267.7 × 175.6 cm (105⅜ × 69⅛ in.)
•Credit Line: Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by The Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Accession Number: 1961.2.2
•Artists/Makers:
oArtist: Sir Joshua Reynolds, British, 1723-1792
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by inheritance to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick Hall; (his estate sale, at Colwick Hall by J.M. Pott, 9-13 and 16 December 1850, 4th day [Dec. 12], no. 680, bought in); by inheritance to his grandson, John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall; his estate; sold 3 July 1888 to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 10 July 1888 to Sir Edward Cecil Guinness [later 1st earl of Iveagh, 1847-1927], Dublin, London, Cowes, and Elveden Hall, Suffolk; sold 19 November 1892 back to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 29 June 1897 to (William Lockett Agnew, London).[1] private collection [“a lady”]; consigned for her by (William Lockett Agnew, London) to (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no.101); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold two days later to Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th duke of Marlborough [1871-1934];[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104); bought by (Lane) for Sir W. Hutcheson Poë, Bt., Batchwood Hall, near St. Albans;[3] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London);[4] sold the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston; The Fuller Foundation, Boston; gift 1961 to NGA.
[1]The purchase of the painting by Guinness and its sale back to Agnew is discussed in Julius Bryant, Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest, New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417; this reference was kindly brought to the Gallery’s attention by a descendant of the sitter, Robert Chaworth-Musters, in an e-mail of 7 July 2015, copy in NGA curatorial files. The Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. Archive was acquired in 2014 by the National Gallery Archive, London, and the picture stock books have since been digitized and made available on-line. The Reynolds is recorded on page 92 of the stock book for 1885-1891 (reference number NGA27/1/1/7), and on page 35 of the stock book for 1891-1898 (reference number NGA27/1/1/8); copies in NGA curatorial files.
[2]Agnew stock books, recorded by The Getty Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, California. See also letter of 9 June 1988 from Martha Hepworth at The Getty Provenance Index, in NGA curatorial files.
[3]The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poë.
[4]Details of the consignors and buyers at the 1901, 1907, and 1927 Christie’s sales were kindly confirmed by Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie’s Archives, in her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
•Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Thomas
•Agnew, William Lockett
•Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
•Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Fuller, Alvan T.
•Musters, II, John
•Musters, John
•Musters, John Chaworth
•Poë, 1st Bt., William Hutcheson, Sir
•Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, Charles Richard John
Exhibition History
•1878—Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57.
•1885—Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189.
•1895—20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, 1895, no. 15.
•1910—Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9, repro.
•1928—Exhibition of Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24.
•1939—Art in New England: Paintings, Drawings, Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pl. 56.
•1959—A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
•2002—Loan to display with permanent collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, 2002-2003.
Technical Summary
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.[1] The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
[1]Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
Bibliography
•1865—Leslie, Charles Robert and Tom Taylor. Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 2 vols. London, 1865: 2:202, 302.
•1899—Graves, Algernon and William Vine Cronin. A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 4 vols. London, 1899-1901: 2:487-488.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900: 221.
•1941—Waterhouse, Sir Ellis. Reynolds. London, 1941: 69, pl. 192.
•1963—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 319, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1965—Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 114, as Squire Musters.
•1968—European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 101, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1969—Watson, Ross. “British Paintings in the National Gallery of Art.” The Connoisseur 172 (1969): 56, repro., 57-58.
•1975—European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 304, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1975—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 505, color repro.
•1981—Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 12, repro. 14, as Squire Musters.
•1984—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 361, no. 502, color repro., as Squire Musters.
•1985—European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 349, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1992—Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 215-217, repro. 216.
•2003—Bryant, Julius. Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest. New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 352, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417.
From British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries:
1961.2.2 (1603)
John Musters
•1777-c. 1780
•Oil on Canvas, 238.5 × 147.3 (93⅞ × 58)
•Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation, Inc.
Technical Notes
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.} The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by descent to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick (sale, Pott, on the premises, 12 December 1850, no. 680, bought in); by descent to John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall. (William Lockett Agnew), by 1895 (anon. [Agnew] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no. 101, bought in), but sold two days later to Charles, 9th Duke of Marlborough2 (anon. [Marlborough] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104, repro.), bought by Lane for Sir W. Hutcheson Poe, Bt.3 (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58, repro.), bought by (Thos. Agnew & Sons), London, who sold it the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston. The Fuller Foundation, Boston.
Exhibitions
Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57. Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased M asters of the British School, Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189. 20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1895, no. 15. Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9. Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24. Paintings Drawings Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pi. 56. A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
John Musters (1753-1827), high sheriff of Nottingham in 1777, who in July 1776 married Sophia Catherine Heywood of Maristow, Devon, was a keen sportsman. Stubbs painted three separate equestrian portraits of him the year after his marriage, one with his wife, one with the Reverend Philip Strong, and one of him on his own.4 Fanny Burney noted in her diary in 1779 that Mrs. Musters, “an exceeding pretty woman,” was “the reigning toast of the season.”5 Their son Jack, athletic and handsome, married the rich and beautiful Mary Anne Chaworth, the first love of the poet Byron.
John and Sophia Musters sat to Reynolds for full-length portraits in November 1777 and May 1780.6 A half payment of 150 guineas, Reynolds’ advance for starting a pair of full-length portraits from 1764 until 1782, was made in December 1777.7 The portrait of Sophia shows her with a sprig of flowers in her hand and a spaniel at her feet. Mrs. Musters sat several times to Reynolds, notably in May 1782 for a full length as Hebe, now at the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood.
The portrait shows the sitter elegantly dressed, wearing a plain, tight-fitting frock coat and a yellow spotted waistcoat, holding a formal tricorne hat and standing in the cross-legged pose fashionable in British portraiture from the 1740s. The large buttons, which became fashionable from about 1775, support a dating in the second half of the 1770s.
The head is firmly modeled and displays the confident pride of the young aristocrat. The open landscape background, with enlivening groups of plants and flowers painted around the sitter’s feet, can be paralleled in other portraits by Reynolds of the period, but the absence of any large tree form as repoussoir or support for the figure is exceptional; both landscape and sky are very heavily overpainted.
Notes
1.Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
2.Agnew stock books, recorded by The Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Santa Monica, California.
3.The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poe.
4.These are still in the family possession (the first two were exhibited at George Stubbs 1724-1806, Tate Gallery, London; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1984-1985, nos. 116-117, color repro.).
5.Charlotte Barrett, ed., Diary & Letters of Madame D’Arblay, 6 vols. (London, 1904-1905), 1:283.
6.Graves and Cronin, 1899-1901, 2:682.
7.Malcolm Cormack, “The Ledgers of Sir Joshua Reynolds,” The Walpole Society 42 (1970), 158.
References
•1865—Leslie and Taylor 1865, 2:203, 229, 313.
•1899—Graves and Cronin 1899, 2:681-682.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900:221.
•1941—Waterhouse 1941: 69, pl. 192.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
Northern Ireland- 5th August 2013 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye.
2013 World Police and Fire Games Dragon Munster Event at the Titanic Slipway in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast City Centre. The event see firefighting crews from different countries working as teams to complete tasks based on old firefighting technics.
An Australian team takes part in the event.
John Musters
West Building, Main Floor—Gallery 59
•Date: 1777-c. 1780
•Medium: Oil on Canvas
•Dimensions:
oOverall: 238.5 × 147.3 cm (93⅞ × 58 in.)
oFramed: 267.7 × 175.6 cm (105⅜ × 69⅛ in.)
•Credit Line: Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by The Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Accession Number: 1961.2.2
•Artists/Makers:
oArtist: Sir Joshua Reynolds, British, 1723-1792
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by inheritance to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick Hall; (his estate sale, at Colwick Hall by J.M. Pott, 9-13 and 16 December 1850, 4th day [Dec. 12], no. 680, bought in); by inheritance to his grandson, John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall; his estate; sold 3 July 1888 to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 10 July 1888 to Sir Edward Cecil Guinness [later 1st earl of Iveagh, 1847-1927], Dublin, London, Cowes, and Elveden Hall, Suffolk; sold 19 November 1892 back to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 29 June 1897 to (William Lockett Agnew, London).[1] private collection [“a lady”]; consigned for her by (William Lockett Agnew, London) to (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no.101); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold two days later to Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th duke of Marlborough [1871-1934];[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104); bought by (Lane) for Sir W. Hutcheson Poë, Bt., Batchwood Hall, near St. Albans;[3] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58); (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London);[4] sold the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston; The Fuller Foundation, Boston; gift 1961 to NGA.
[1]The purchase of the painting by Guinness and its sale back to Agnew is discussed in Julius Bryant, Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest, New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417; this reference was kindly brought to the Gallery’s attention by a descendant of the sitter, Robert Chaworth-Musters, in an e-mail of 7 July 2015, copy in NGA curatorial files. The Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. Archive was acquired in 2014 by the National Gallery Archive, London, and the picture stock books have since been digitized and made available on-line. The Reynolds is recorded on page 92 of the stock book for 1885-1891 (reference number NGA27/1/1/7), and on page 35 of the stock book for 1891-1898 (reference number NGA27/1/1/8); copies in NGA curatorial files.
[2]Agnew stock books, recorded by The Getty Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, California. See also letter of 9 June 1988 from Martha Hepworth at The Getty Provenance Index, in NGA curatorial files.
[3]The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poë.
[4]Details of the consignors and buyers at the 1901, 1907, and 1927 Christie’s sales were kindly confirmed by Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie’s Archives, in her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
•Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Thomas
•Agnew, William Lockett
•Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
•Fuller Foundation, Inc.
•Fuller, Alvan T.
•Musters, II, John
•Musters, John
•Musters, John Chaworth
•Poë, 1st Bt., William Hutcheson, Sir
•Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, Charles Richard John
Exhibition History
•1878—Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57.
•1885—Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189.
•1895—20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, 1895, no. 15.
•1910—Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9, repro.
•1928—Exhibition of Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24.
•1939—Art in New England: Paintings, Drawings, Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pl. 56.
•1959—A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
•2002—Loan to display with permanent collection, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, 2002-2003.
Technical Summary
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.[1] The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
[1]Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
Bibliography
•1865—Leslie, Charles Robert and Tom Taylor. Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 2 vols. London, 1865: 2:202, 302.
•1899—Graves, Algernon and William Vine Cronin. A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds. 4 vols. London, 1899-1901: 2:487-488.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900: 221.
•1941—Waterhouse, Sir Ellis. Reynolds. London, 1941: 69, pl. 192.
•1963—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 319, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1965—Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 114, as Squire Musters.
•1968—European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 101, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1969—Watson, Ross. “British Paintings in the National Gallery of Art.” The Connoisseur 172 (1969): 56, repro., 57-58.
•1975—European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 304, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1975—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 505, color repro.
•1981—Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 12, repro. 14, as Squire Musters.
•1984—Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 361, no. 502, color repro., as Squire Musters.
•1985—European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 349, repro., as Squire Musters.
•1992—Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 215-217, repro. 216.
•2003—Bryant, Julius. Kenwood: Paintings in the Iveagh Bequest. New Haven and London, 2003: 15, 352, 354 fig. 2, 356-357, 417.
From British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries:
1961.2.2 (1603)
John Musters
•1777-c. 1780
•Oil on Canvas, 238.5 × 147.3 (93⅞ × 58)
•Given in Memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation, Inc.
Technical Notes
The canvas is twill woven; it has been lined. The ground is white, of moderate thickness. What remains of the original paint in the face and figure is freely applied in thick, opaque layers, blended wet into wet. The sky and background are severely abraded and very heavily overpainted; the sitter’s hair and neck are also overpainted. The costume was overpainted c. 1820; this overpaint was removed and the picture restored to its original state in 1872.} The coat is badly abraded and has been extensively retouched. The impasto has been flattened during lining. The heavy natural resin varnish has not discolored.
Provenance
Painted for the sitter, John Musters [1753-1827], Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire; probably by descent to his son, John Musters [1777-1849], Colwick (sale, Pott, on the premises, 12 December 1850, no. 680, bought in); by descent to John Chaworth Musters [1838-1887], Annesley Park, Colwick Hall, and Wiverton Hall. (William Lockett Agnew), by 1895 (anon. [Agnew] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no. 101, bought in), but sold two days later to Charles, 9th Duke of Marlborough2 (anon. [Marlborough] sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14 June 1907, no. 104, repro.), bought by Lane for Sir W. Hutcheson Poe, Bt.3 (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 8 July 1927, no. 58, repro.), bought by (Thos. Agnew & Sons), London, who sold it the same month to Alvan T. Fuller [1878-1958], Boston. The Fuller Foundation, Boston.
Exhibitions
Opening Exhibition of the Midland Counties Art Museum, Castle, Nottingham, 1878-1879, no. 57. Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased M asters of the British School, Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1885, no. 189. 20 Masterpieces of the English School, Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1895, no. 15. Japan-British Exhibition, Shepherd’s Bush, London, 1910, no. 9. Paintings Loaned by Governor Alvan T. Fuller, Art Club, Boston, 1928, no. 24. Paintings Drawings Prints from Private Collections in New England, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939, no. 109, pi. 56. A Memorial Exhibition of the Collection of the Honorable Alvan T. Fuller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, no. 20, repro.
John Musters (1753-1827), high sheriff of Nottingham in 1777, who in July 1776 married Sophia Catherine Heywood of Maristow, Devon, was a keen sportsman. Stubbs painted three separate equestrian portraits of him the year after his marriage, one with his wife, one with the Reverend Philip Strong, and one of him on his own.4 Fanny Burney noted in her diary in 1779 that Mrs. Musters, “an exceeding pretty woman,” was “the reigning toast of the season.”5 Their son Jack, athletic and handsome, married the rich and beautiful Mary Anne Chaworth, the first love of the poet Byron.
John and Sophia Musters sat to Reynolds for full-length portraits in November 1777 and May 1780.6 A half payment of 150 guineas, Reynolds’ advance for starting a pair of full-length portraits from 1764 until 1782, was made in December 1777.7 The portrait of Sophia shows her with a sprig of flowers in her hand and a spaniel at her feet. Mrs. Musters sat several times to Reynolds, notably in May 1782 for a full length as Hebe, now at the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood.
The portrait shows the sitter elegantly dressed, wearing a plain, tight-fitting frock coat and a yellow spotted waistcoat, holding a formal tricorne hat and standing in the cross-legged pose fashionable in British portraiture from the 1740s. The large buttons, which became fashionable from about 1775, support a dating in the second half of the 1770s.
The head is firmly modeled and displays the confident pride of the young aristocrat. The open landscape background, with enlivening groups of plants and flowers painted around the sitter’s feet, can be paralleled in other portraits by Reynolds of the period, but the absence of any large tree form as repoussoir or support for the figure is exceptional; both landscape and sky are very heavily overpainted.
Notes
1.Graves and Cronin 1899-1901, 2:682.
2.Agnew stock books, recorded by The Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Santa Monica, California.
3.The Getty Provenance Index records Lane as the buyer for Poe.
4.These are still in the family possession (the first two were exhibited at George Stubbs 1724-1806, Tate Gallery, London; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1984-1985, nos. 116-117, color repro.).
5.Charlotte Barrett, ed., Diary & Letters of Madame D’Arblay, 6 vols. (London, 1904-1905), 1:283.
6.Graves and Cronin, 1899-1901, 2:682.
7.Malcolm Cormack, “The Ledgers of Sir Joshua Reynolds,” The Walpole Society 42 (1970), 158.
References
•1865—Leslie and Taylor 1865, 2:203, 229, 313.
•1899—Graves and Cronin 1899, 2:681-682.
•1900—Armstrong, Sir Walter. Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, 1900:221.
•1941—Waterhouse 1941: 69, pl. 192.
I didn't catch the year of this sharp MG, but it is nicely posed in front of the home in which Luther Burbank was born (now a gift shop).
The June 14, 2014 Motor Muster at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. This huge car show, featuring over 700 classic cars from 1933 to the late 1970s, takes place every year on Father's Day weekend. This visit was with my flickr contact Granttt73.
All of my classic car photos can be found here: Car Collections
Press "L" for a full-screen view.
A Genuine Irish Local brings the turf home in the trusty 1970 Landrover.
If you haven't seen it before, turf (peat) looks like dirt bricks that are cut out of the ground, dried and burned in fireplaces or stoves instead of wood or coal. Ireland has three peat-fired power stations. Forming in bogs, they are thousands of years worth of semi-decayed wetland vegetation.
26 July 2017, Carlow, Ireland
The June 15, 2013 Motor Muster at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. This huge car show, featuring over 700 classic cars
from 1933 to the late 1970s, takes place every year on Father's Day weekend.
This all-original Chrysler Cordoba came with the cloth interior rather than the famous one.
One of the more annoying aspects of basic training in the Royal Navy whilst at HMS Raleigh, was the regular kit musters. This entailed presenting all of your uniform, cleaned and pressed and folded to exactly the size of a naval manual, on your bunk ready for inspection. Later, during a ratings career this may have been included in a punishment routine, however in training it was used to train rating in the most economical use of the very limited space at sea in warships living quarters.