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Artist or Maker: Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A (Bristol 1769-1830 London)
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Provenance: By descent in the sitter's family to Miss Madeline Halkett; Sotheby's, London, 27 February 1952, lot 12.
Acquired by the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1952; Christie's, London, 16 November, 1990, lot 14, when acquired by the present owner's father.
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Notes: THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.
Anne Halkett, the eldest daughter of William Todd, of Mill Hill, married John Halkett of Pitfirrane (1768-1852) in 1794. Her father-in-law Sir John Wedderburn, of Gosford, co. Haddington, had assumed the name of Halkett of Pitfirrane having inherited the baronetcy from his cousin Sir Peter Halkett, 3rd Bt. While her mother-in-law Mary was the daughter of the Hon. John Hamilton, a younger son of the 6th Earl of Haddington.
Mrs Halkett's husband, who was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1788 and called to the bar in 1794, was appointed Governor of the Bahamas in 1801 and Governor of Tobago in 1803, where he remained until 1805. He was also Chairman of the Board of West Indian Accounts from 1814 until 1819 and was the author of Historical notes respecting the Indians of North America (1823). Lawrence painted a half-length portrait of him in circa 1800 (see Garlick, 1989, op. cit, p. 201, no. 364). A copy of the present portrait by Henry Bone, dated 1806 was recorded by Garlick as formerly in the collection of the Halkett family.
