My wife's ancestors - Maltass - Contents

Portrait of Jane Maltass by Joshua Reynolds, 1782

Portrait of Jane Maltass (born 26 June 1763).
Painted in London by Sir Joshua Reynolds in Feb 1782.
Jane was then age 18 and married to George Baldwin. (She had married age 16 in 1779.)
Reynolds painted her in Eastern dress, and this has long been one of the more admired paintings by Reynolds.
See search and image search.

The portrait was done by Reynolds for his own interest and was not given to the Maltass/Baldwin family.
After Reynolds' death it was owned by his niece Mary Palmer, the wife of Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond.
Then owned by Richard Westall.
Bought by 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne in 1813. It hung at Lansdowne House in Berkeley Square, London, then later at his family's seat Bowood House, Wiltshire.
It is listed as "Portrait of a Greek lady" in the Bowood collection in Treasures of Art in Great Britain, Dr. Waagen, 1854, Vol.III, p.160.

Sold for £3.4m at Sotheby's in 2004, the 2nd highest auction price ever reached for a work by Reynolds.
Now in Compton Verney art gallery, Warwickshire.

Jane Maltass ("Mrs. Baldwin") in Eastern dress.
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds in Feb 1782 (her age 18).
Ancient coin of Smyrna in her hand.
Now at Compton Verney art gallery, Warwickshire.
From abcgallery.com. See terms of use.

Jane Maltass in Feb 1782, age 18.
Detail of above.
Now at Compton Verney art gallery, Warwickshire.
From abcgallery.com. See terms of use.

Reynolds paints Mrs. Baldwin (Jane Maltass).
From [Leslie and Taylor, 1865, vol.2].
Left: Pages 350-351. Right: Page 387.

McCormick copy of the painting

There is a second, identical copy of this picture, mainly painted by Reynolds' studio assistants.
It was incorrectly labelled as by Reynolds for many years.
It was purchased c.1892 by the collector Robert Hall McCormick (1847-1917) (also here).
[Rees family papers] say "Mr. McCormick of Boston" owned it temp c.1910.
It was acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1920.
This is the painting featured in [Harpers Magazine, Sept 1924].
Hearst sold it 1945.
It was "lost" for more than 50 years.
Rediscovered in a private US collection. Was up for auction at Christie's in 2003 (and here).
But it was withdrawn from auction when it emerged it was mainly by Reynolds' assistants.

Met copy of the painting

There is a further, cropped, copy of this picture, from the "Workshop of Sir Joshua Reynolds".
It was in the collection of the Earl of Charlemont.
Then in Blodgett family.
Presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1906. See [Story, 1906].
Still at Metropolitan Museum of Art today.

The Met copy of the portrait, from the "Workshop of Sir Joshua Reynolds".
See full size.
From Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain.

References

"Principal Accessions by Gift", George H. Story, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New York, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Feb 1906), pp. 48-49.

Sources yet to be consulted

Harpers Magazine, Sept 1924.
- See front cover and article. See p.505.
Reynolds painting for sale in 2004 at Sotheby's.
- And Sotheby's pages formerly here and here.
- Also invaluable.com formerly here.