Thomas Seaman
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Lot 296TP
Adolfo Felice Muller-Ury(American, 1862-1947)Portrait of a lady in a black dress seated on a Louis XV giltwood bergere
Amended
17 – 18 July 2019, 10:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £5,687.50 inc. premium
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Adolfo Felice Muller-Ury (American, 1862-1947)
Portrait of a lady in a black dress seated on a Louis XV giltwood bergere
signed 'A.Muller-Ury' (lower left)
oil on canvas
209 x 151cm (82.4 x 59.4in).
signed 'A.Muller-Ury' (lower left)
oil on canvas
209 x 151cm (82.4 x 59.4in).
Footnotes
Listed as one of the artist's sitters is Madame Francesca Terry y Sanchez of Château de Rochecotte, France. It has been suggested that Madame Terry is the subject of this portrait.
The Newport Herald, Thursday, September 16, 1897 stated that Muller-Ury had painted the portrait of 'Mrs. J. Terry.' Cholly Knickerbocker, the columnist of the New York Journal, on Friday, January 7, 1898, reported that Mrs. Terry's portrait was the pièce de resistance on display at a reception given by the artist in his studio the day before. It was reported in Town Topics, March 31, 1898, as being exhibited at the Schaus Gallery prior to being shipped to France. The pencil inscription on the frame suggests that this it was from this date that the picture was exhibited at the Schaus Gallery. According to the New York Herald, April 10, 1898, two portraits were painted by Muller-Ury of Mme. Terry, "...one was of life size and the other of smaller dimensions", but this reference to a second picture may actually be a reference to the picture of her daughter whose whereabouts is unknown.
The picture was probably sent in 1899 to the Terrys' home in France where they leased the Château de Chenonceau 1896-1908. The de Castellane family were to inherit the Château de Rochecotte, near Langeais, in the Loire valley from their great-grandmother the Duchesse Dorothée de Dino, Talleyrand's daughter. Antonia Terry was buried in a mausoleum in the grounds of the château Rochecotte which was bought in 1934 from his brother-in-law Stanislas de Castellane by Emilio Terry, the son of the sitter and great French interior designer, and in 1969 he left it to Henri-Jean de Castellane who lived there until 1978.
Saleroom notices
The Newport Herald, Thursday, September 16, 1897 stated that Muller-Ury had painted the portrait of 'Mrs. J. Terry.' Cholly Knickerbocker, the columnist of the New York Journal, on Friday, January 7, 1898, reported that Mrs. Terry's portrait was the piece de resistance on display at a reception given by the artist in his studio the day before. It was reported in Town Topics, March 31, 1898, as being exhibited at the Schaus Gallery prior to being shipped to France. The pencil inscription on the frame suggests that this it was from this date that the picture was exhibited at the Schaus Gallery. According to the New York Herald, April 10, 1898, two portraits were painted by Muller-Ury of Mme. Terry, "...one was of life size and the other of smaller dimensions", but this reference to a second picture may actually be a reference to the picture of her daughter whose whereabouts is unknown.
We are now confident that the sitter is indeed Madame Terry and we are grateful to Mr Stephen Conrad and the Stiftung for their assistance in cataloguing this lot.