By descent in the family of the sitter, Mary Ellis Bell [Mrs. Isaac Bell, 1791-1871], to Evangeline Bell Bruce [Mrs. David K.E. Bruce, 1918-1996], Washington, D.C.;[1] bequest 1997 to NGA. [1] "J. Bell, Esq." lent the painting to an 1827 exhibition. His relationship to the sitter has not yet been determined. Harold Bell, identified by William Oedel as the sitter's great-grandson (letter of 2 January 1997, in NGA curatorial files), lent the painting to a 1932 exhibition. Oedel documents the donor's ownership in 1953.