Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels

- 1797
Horatio (Horace) Walpole, 4th Earl of Oxford (1717-1797), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, Middlesex, England [1]

1797 - 1810
Anne Seymour Damer (d.1828), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, by inheritance

1810 - 1882
Laura, Countess of Waldegrave (1760-1816), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, Middlesex, England; John James Waldegrave, 6th Earl of Waldegrave (1785-1835), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, by inheritance; George Edward Waldegrave, 7th Earl of Waldegrave (1816-1846), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, by inheritance; Frances, Countess of Waldegrave (d.1879), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, by inheritance; Chichester Fortescue, Lord Carlington, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, by inheritance

1883 - 1923
Baron Herbert Stern, Lord Michelham (1851-1919), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, Middlesex, England; Aimée Geraldine Bradshaw Stern, Lady Michelham (1882-1927), London, England, by inheritance [2]

1923/05/03 - 1927
Durlacher Brothers, London, England, and New York, NY, USA, purchased at the sale of the collection of Baron and Lady Michelham, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, Knight, Frank & Rutley of London, May 30, 1923, lot no. 20 [3]

1927 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from the Durlacher Brothers [4]


Notes:
[1] According to the 2003 catalogue raisonné, the panel was formerly owned by Horace Walpole of Strawberry Hill and Lord Michelham also of Strawberry Hill until Lord Michelham's collection was auctioned by Knight, Frank, & Rutley of London on May 30, 1923, at Strawberry Hill [Weppelman, Stephan. "Spinello Aretino," Florence: Edifir-Edizione Firenze, 2003, p. 123-24, cat. no. 9]. According to an annotated copy of the 1923 sales catalogue, Durlacher Brothers purchased the work at this auction ["Contents of the Mansion." Knight, Frank & Rutley (of London), Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, May 28-June 1, 1923, lot no. 620, p. 41]. A letter from Durlacher Brothers dated March 25, 1927, also notes Walpole and Michelham's ownership of the panel at Strawberry Hill [SLAM document files]. Given the scope of this information, it seems that the panel remained at Strawberry Hill from 1797 (perhaps before) until 1923 when the property was passed from Horace Walpole to various owners, including Anne Seymour Damer, the Countess of Waldegrave and her descendants, and Lord Michelham.

The panel does not appear in a 1784 publication that extensively describes the contents of Strawberry Hill, which indicates that Walpole acquired the panel after this date [Walpole, Horace. "A Description of the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole, Youngest Son of Sir Robert Walpole Earl of Oxford, at Strawberry Hill near Twickenham, Middlesex." Strawberry Hill: Thomas Kirgate, 1784; (Reprinted) London: The Gregg Press Limited, 1964].

The following is an account of the proprietors of Strawberry Hill from 1747 to 1923:

Horace Walpole (1717-1791), an established author and art collector, was the youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745), the first Prime Minister of England from 1721-1741. Walpole moved to Strawberry Hill in 1747 where he amassed a large collection of art, artifacts, and books. Upon Walpole's death in 1797, Strawberry Hill was left to Anne Seymour Damer (d.1828), daughter of Henry Seymour Conway, Walpole's cousin. Despite a yearly allowance to assist with Strawberry Hill's maintenance costs, Damer found the expenses too high and passed the property to Walpole's great niece, Laura, Countess of Waldegrave (1760-1816), whose parents were John, 2nd Earl of Waldegrave (1714-1763) and Maria Walpole (1736-1807). After the Countess' death in 1816, the estate was inherited by her son, the 6th Earl of Waldegrave, John James (1785-1835), who had one illegitimate son, John (c.1815-1840), and one legitimate son, George (1816-1846). Upon the 6th Earl of Waldegrave's death in 1835, the estate was passed on to his younger, legitimate son, George, the 7th Earl of Waldegrave. In 1839, the eldest, illegitimate son John married Frances Braham (d.1879), but died shortly thereafter. George, the 7th Earl of Waldegrave married his brother's widow in 1840 and Frances was given the title of Countess of Waldegrave. The 7th Earl of Waldegrave died in 1846 and Strawberry Hill was inherited by the Countess. Lady Waldegrave remarried in 1847 to G.G. Harcourt (d.1861) and in 1855 began to refurbish Strawberry Hill to host lavish parties, including many political receptions. Shortly after the death of her third husband, Lady Waldegrave married her fourth husband, Chichester Fortescue, Lord Carlington in 1862. They were married for seventeen years when Lady Waldegrave died in 1879 and the estate was inherited by her husband.

In 1882, Strawberry Hill was sold to an American hotel company. A year later, it was purchased by Baron Herbert Stern, Lord Michelham (title given in 1905), and his wife, Aimée Geraldine Bradshaw Stern. After her husband's death in 1919, the panel remained at Strawberry Hill in Lady Michelham's ownership while she moved to residences in London and St. Germain-en-Layne, Paris. In 1923, the contents of Strawberry Hill (including the Museum's panel) were auctioned at a vast sale held on the property ["Strawberry Hill," accessed March 12, 2005, <>; "Navestock: Manors" and "Twickenham," accessed March 17, 2005, <>; "Sir Herbert Stern, 1st Baron Michelham" and "Horatio Walpole," accessed March 17, 2005, <>].

[2] See note [1].

[3] See note [1].

[4] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 22, 1927.