Seashore with Fishermen

Provenance

Possibly by descent to Margaret Gainsborough.[1] Probably Augustine Greenland. (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 25-28 January 1804, 4th day, no. 43); bought by Charles Birch. Probably with (William Dermer), who sold it in 1805 to Sir John Leicester, Bt., later 1st baron de Tabley [1762-1827];[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 7 July 1827, no. 27); bought by Smith[3] for Sir George Richard Philips, 1st Bt. [b. 1789], Weston House, Shipston-on-Stour; bequeathed to his eldest daughter, who married Adam, 2nd earl of Camperdown, Gleneagles, Perthshire; by descent to Robert, 3rd earl of Camperdown [1841-1918], Gleneagles; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 21 February 1919, no. 134); (M. Knoedler & Co., London); sold 1920 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; gift by 1937 to his daughter, Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; bequest 1970 to NGA. [1] _The Farington Diary, \c by Joseph Farington, R.A. [1747-1821]_, James Grieg, ed., 8 vols., London, 1923-1928: 1153 (entry for 8 February 1799). [2] Douglas Hall, "The Tabley House Papers," _The Walpole Society_, 38 (1962): 70. [3] Possibly John Smith, the picture dealer of 137 New Bond Street, author of the catalogue raisonné of Dutch pictures.

Seashore with Fishermen

Gainsborough, Thomas

c. 1781/1782

Accession Number

1970.17.121

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 101.9 x 127.6 cm (40 1/8 x 50 1/4 in.) | framed: 124.5 x 149.9 x 7 cm (49 x 59 x 2 3/4 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

Credit Line

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection