Provenance

Bequeathed by Francis Towne in 1816 to James White of Exeter (1744–1825), on whose death it passed to Towne’s residuary legatee John Herman Merivale (1779–1844) and his successors. Merivale’s granddaughters Maria Sophia Merivale (1853–1928) and Judith Ann Merivale (1860–1945), both of Oxford, inherited the drawing in May 1915 within a sketchbook containing FT689 to FT714, much or all of which by 1963 was owned by Mr and Mrs Sutton of New Zealand. Although this drawing was not among the seventeen they sold to the Fine Art Society in 1963, it was later on sale there, where it was bought in December 1969 for £1,400 by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), who gave it to the current owner, the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven (B1975.4.960; gift to Yale, December 1975).