Richard Parkes Bonington

Possibly anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 31 May 1839, lot 91;
Possibly William Hinxman;
Possibly his sale, London, Christie's, 25 March 1848, lot 5, to Emory;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 16 November 1982, lot 50;
With Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York, 1985;
By whom sold to Bill Blass, New York, in 1989;
His sale, New York, Sotheby's, 21-23 October 2003, lot 32 (as Attributed to Richard Parkes Bonington);
There acquired by the present owner. 

P. Noon, Richard Parkes Bonington, The Complete Paintings, New Haven 2008, cat. no. 392, reproduced in color, p. 420. 

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is unlined. The inscription on the reverse is clearly visible. The painting shows no retouches except in the breastplate in the center right. There are slightly raised horizontal ridges through the head, waist and knees of the suit of armor, but there is no instability. The work could certainly be hung as is.
"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."

Although this oil sketch of a 16th-century half suit of armor has traditionally been associated with the visit Bonington made with Eugène Delacroix in July 1825 to the London armor collection of Dr. Samuel Rush Meyrick, Patrick Noon (see Literature) suggests that it likely predates that trip, and may in fact have belonged to Bonington himself until the day he died. While neither the half-suit nor the breast-plate depicted here are identifiable with extant examples, however, this canvas may be identical to at least one of the unfinished, or "imperfect" sketches described in Bonington's 1829 studio sale: "lot 225, A Suit of Steel Armor, not quite perfect, bt. Stanfield."

Bonington made numerous sketches of armor in his short career, though to find one in oil, as opposed to his more numerous drawn examples, is a rare occasion. A number of these sketches were produced during the aforementioned Meyrick visit, a number of which are housed in the British Museum collection (fig.1).