Francesco da Ponte, called Francesco Bassano the Younger

Possibly Doge Nicolò Sagredo, Venice, by circa 1654,

by descent to his brother, Stefano Sagredo, Venice;

by descent to his nephew, Zaccaria Sagredo, Venice (his inscription: dal Bassan),

by inheritance to his nephew, Gerardo Sagredo,

by inheritance to his wife, Cecilia Grimani Calergi, until sold, circa 1743;

John B. Skippe (1742-1811), Ledbury,

by descent to Mrs. Rayner-Wood and to

Edward Holland-Martin,

his sale, London, Christie's, November 1958, lot 27 (to Hans M. Calmann);

with Seiferheld and Co., New York,

where acquired by the late owner

The 1958 sale of the Skippe collection (see Provenance) included an important series of drawings by the Bassano family. Arthur E. Popham, the compiler of the catalogue, regarded about twenty-two lots as originals by various members of the Bassano family, all similar in size and perhaps once part of the same ensemble, possibly within an album. Ten of these, including the present sheet, bore similar old inscriptions with attributions to Bassano. Popham had already by that time recognised that these inscriptions could be associated with a provenance from the Sagredo collection.¹ He also observed, in cataloguing this group, the difficulty of telling apart the drawings by different members of the family.²

The famous London based drawings dealer, Hans M. Calmann (1899-1982) was the buyer of many of these lots from the Skippe sale.³

^1.See Provenance 1958, The Well-known Collection of Old Master Drawings, Principally of the Italian School formed in the 18th century by John Skippe, p. 20

^2.Loc. cit.

^3. For information on Calmann see Jennifer Tonkovich, 'Hans Calmann and the American Market for Old Master Drawings, 1937-73', Master Drawings, vol. 59, no. 1, 2021, pp. 49 -72