Jacques Laurent Agasse

Mrs Elizabeth Murray Usher (1903–1990), Cally, Scotland;

By whom sold, London, Christie’s, 22 June 1979, lot 81;

Anonymous sale, Glasgow, Christie's & Edmiston's, 3 July 1980, lot 93;

Private collection, Copenhagen;

With Harari & Johns Ltd., London, by 1988;

From whom acquired by the present owner.

Geneva, Musée d'art et d'histoire, and London, The Tate Gallery, Jacques-Laurent Agasse, 1767–1849, 10 November 1988 – 2 April 1989, no. 20 (lent by Harari & Johns Ltd.).

C. Sanger, in Jacques-Laurent Agasse, 1767–1849, exh. cat., London 1988, p. 80, no. 20, reproduced in colour p. 81.

This painting has traditionally been thought to depict George Irving (1774–1820) riding a chestnut horse and accompanied by his King Charles spaniel. Two gentlemen and a lady, also on horseback, can be seen in the distance, where an arched footbridge and grand, classical architecture can be seen just beyond. Agasse is known to have depicted George Irving on one other occasion in about 1803, mounting his black hunter. Our painting would appear to have been completed at a later date, sometime between 1805 and 1815.