
Leo Webster
Senior Specialist



Sold for £17,920 inc. premium
Our Scottish Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialist
Senior Specialist

Managing Director, Scotland

Sale Coordinator
Provenance
With Frost & Reed, London, no. 25147.
Sir Raymond Johnstone; thence by descent.
John Johnstone (1734-1795) joined the service of the East India Company at the age of sixteen and lived in India for fifteen years. He was considered to be fluent in both Persian and Bengali. In 1769, John wrote to his brother that "I own it is my wish to fix my wandering feet on some speck of Earth I could call my own." In 1772 he bought an estate at Alva, nestled in the Ochil Hills of what is now Clackmannanshire. He stayed there for the rest of his life and became a member of parliament, for a short time, and an opponent of slavery.