School of Antwerp, second quarter of the 16th Century

Frederick William Sharon (c. 1856-1915);
By descent to his step daughter Florence Louise Witherspoon Breckenridge (c.1890-1956) who married in 1909 Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 8th Bt., later 1st Baron Hesketh (1881-1944);
Thence by family descent.

Manchester, City of Manchester Art Galleries, Art Treasures Centenary Exhibition, 1957, nos. 25 and 38 (as Jan Gossaert);
Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Le Siècle de Brueghel, 27 September - 24 November 1963, cat. no.106.

Phillips & MacConnal, 25 Castle Street, Liverpool, Inventory of the Contents of Easton Neston House, Northamptonshire, 1919, no.10, Two XV Century Flemish panels of Saints, oil painting £750;
Anon compiler, An Inventory of the mansion and contents, Easton Neston House, Towcester, typed document, January 1923, Entrance Hall 1. Two XV century Flemish panels of Saints, oil paintings, £750;
Archibald Phillips, 16, Conduit Street, London, W.1., Inventory and Valuation of the Household Furniture, Ornamental Effects, Pictures and other items at Easton Neston House, Towcester, Northants, February 1927, typed document (Family Archive), p. 8, Entrance Hall, no. 1, 'Two Flemish panels of Saints, £750';
Anon. compiler, An Inventory of the Mansion and Contents, Easton Neston House, Towcester, February 1927, typed document (Family Archive), Drawing Room, no 10, 'Two XV Century Flemish Panels of Saints, £750'.
E.K. Waterhouse, in Catalogue of the Exhibition. European Old Masters, Manchester 1957, p. 7 (as Jan Gossaert);
Illustrated London News, 2 January 1960, supplement;
L. van Puyvelde et al., Le Siècle de Brueghel, exhibition catalogue, Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, 27 September - 24 November 1963, p. 101, cat. no. 106, reproduced figs 67a & 67b (as Jan Gossaert).

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. These two paintings on oak panels have been cradled probably about a century ago. Each has a single joint just off centre to the right and little sign past movement apart from a single crack in the St. Barbara panel. Each shows the trace of their place in the original structure of the altarpiece in a curved corner at opposite sides of the top edge, hidden beneath the present frames. St. Barbara. The joint has been narrowly touched out with one quite broad retouched damage in the central yellow sleeve, and a smaller retouching in the hand. There is one crack running half way up the right side from the base. The edges have been touched out to fit the frame, as has the edge of the original curve in the sky on the left. There are a few minor touches in the drapery over occasional little marks, but scarcely any wear (apart from a little in the castle near the top) and the surface is in exceptionally beautiful condition throughout. The translucent paint shows the drawing through in some lighter areas, and the darks are deep and rich with unbroken glazing. The remarkable technique has enabled the fine details to be preserved intact. St. Catherine. This painting also has a joint to the right of centre, but with very little retouching. The curved corner is to the right of the sky in this panel, and there is a little retouching around the edges to conform with the frame. The landscape is particularly beautifully intact, but as with the pendant the blue of the sky has faded with an unfaithfully blue reflection in the water. There are a few minor retouchings in the drapery with one rather longer diagonal scratch, and some little touches in the head and neck which is slightly less immaculately preserved than elsewhere. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

These altar wings depicting Saints Catherine and Barbara were attributed to Jan Gossaert by both Ellis Waterhouse and Leo van Puyvelde at the 1957 Manchester and 1963 Brussels exhibitions respectively. Today, however, scholars have unanimously rejected the attribution to Gossaert but do agree that the panels were executed in Antwerp, probably in the 1520s or possibly the early 1530s, showing stylistic similarites to both the Master of Frankfurt and the Master of the Female Half-Lengths. Although their provenance before circa 1900 is not known, they were clearly the left and right hanging wings of a triptych, a notion supported by the traces of hinges found at the right margin of the former and the left margin of the latter.

The panels are first recorded in the Drawing Room of Frederick William Sharon's New York residence circa 1900 (Fig.1).  Frederick was the only son of William Sharon (1821-1885) who initially made his fortune as a lawyer and merchant during the California gold rush of the 1840s and 50s.  He later co-founded the Bank of California with William Ralston and served as Senator in the 1870s.  William Sharon had three children and it is possible these paintings were first acquired by him and entered the Fermor-Hesketh collection via his younger daughter, Florence Emily Sharon (1858-1924), who married Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 7th Bt. (1849-1924).  It seems however more likely that they were acquired by Frederick William Sharon and passed to his step daughter, Florence Louise Witherspoon Breckenridge (c.1890-1956) who married her step cousin Thomas Fermor-Hesketh (1881-1944) in 1909.
The younger Fermor-Heskeths first established themselves at no. 7 Rutland Gate, London and Rufford New Hall, Lancashire.  In 1912, Sir Thomas George handed over the family's principal seat, Easton Neston in Northamptonshire, to his son who was M.P. for Enfield and  later ennobled for services to the Conservative Party, becoming Baron Hesketh in 1935.
The panels hung in the The Entrance Hall at Easton Neston until May 2005.