Portrait of Charlotte Monro of Craiglockhart (1782-1822) when a girl, in a white dress with blue sash, seated half-length in a landscape and holding a canary
oil on canvas, unframed
75 x 62cm

Provenance:
By descent from the sitter to her great-grandson, Captain Alan Ferrier (d.1919) by 1913,
His sale, Christie's, London, 11th April 1919, lot 68, as 'Sir H. Raeburn R. A.', bt. Peacock for £1,500;
Anon. sale, Christie's, 28th June 1929, unsold;
Anderson Galleries, 536 So. Michigan Ave, Chicago, USA, by 1930;
Anon. Sale, Hindman, Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 11th January 2019, lot 317, as 'Attributed to Sir Henry Raeburn', when acquired by the present owner for $17,500 incl. premium

Exhibited:
London, Grosvenor Gallery, Second National Loan Exhibition, 1913-1914 : Woman and Child in Art, 26th November 1913 - 11th February 1914, as 'Miss Charlotte Monro by Sir Henry Raeburn, R. A. Lent by Mr. Alan Ferrier, Linlithgow';
Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of Portraits of Children in the Children's Museum, 26th February - 30th March 1931, no. 29, as 'Sir Henry Raeburn - Scottish 1756-1823, Miss Charlotte Monroe [sic], Lent by the Anderson Gallery'

Literature:
The Connoisseur, vol. XLIV, January-April 1916, p.13, illus.;
The Connoisseur, vol. LIV, May-August 1919, p. 168;
The Genealogists Magazine, vol. 5, 1931, p. 155;
Chicago Tribune, 11th May 1930, p. 65, illus. in an advertisement for Anderson Galleries

Charlotte Monro was born on the 17th March 1782, the daughter of Dr Alexander Monro FRSE, FRCPE (1733-1817) of Craiglockhart and of Cockburn, and his wife Katherine (1741-1803), daughter of David Inglis. Charlotte married, on 10th November 1808, Louis Henry Ferrier of Belsyde, Linlithgowshire.

It is recorded that the sitter’s parents were both painted by Sir Henry Raeburn, though the whereabouts of both paintings are currently unknown. The portrait of the sitter’s father by Raeburn is however recorded in an engraving of 1800 by J Heath. Her nephews The Binning Boys in the National Gallery of Art, Washington were also painted by Raeburn, but at a much later date, circa 1811.

Condition Report

Unframed. Oil on canvas which has been lined. The tacking edges of the lining canvas are worn and have come loose at the top left and bottom left corners. The paint layer is stable and canvas tension is good. There are extensive retouchings in the sitter's face, dress and the background.