STUDIO OF SIR HENRY RAEBURN, R.A., P.R.S.A. | PORTRAIT OF MS. MARGARITTA MACDONALD, MRS. ROBERT SCOTT MONCRIEFF (1779-1824), HALF LENGTH

Mr and Mrs William Alexander, 1st cousins of the sitter;

Thence by descent to their granddaughter, Miss Knox, who married Dr Monroe of Edinburgh;

With Frank Partridge and Sons;

Where acquired by Sir Henry Price in 1939;

His sale, London, Sotheby's, 22 November 2000, lot 207;

Private collection since 2010.

The sitter was the wife of an Edinburgh wine merchant, Robert Scott Moncrieff, who added the name of Wellwood when he inherited the estate of Garvock in Fife in 1847. Scott Moncrieff was a friend of Sir Walter Scott, who described him as 'exceedingly unassuming in manner, and kind and liberal to all', and they formed an integral part of Edinburgh society in the early part of the nineteenth century. The Moncrieffs were a devoted couple, and Robert was inconsolable after Margaritta's death in 1824. He remained a widower for thirty years, and her portrait hung undisturbed in his dining room.

The model for the present painting is Raeburn's fine portrait of Margaret Scott Moncrieff, painted in 1814 and currently in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (inv. no. NG 302).