Following on from my initial blog post on the subject, there have been some developments. After having contacted Art UK, I am now in what I would call stage two, so an update about the one portrait on their site may be coming soon.
I also contacted Christie’s, and received very useful information. The portrait itself – whether the Art UK one or not – was consigned by Major C. Clare Deane, and was bought in. The latter means it failed to sell, which I will get on to, but the former means we have a name to work from.
In fact, this Major Deane was Charles Anthony Clare Deane, and I have been able to trace him back directly to Sir Anthony Deane, which explains how the portrait came into his possession. On top of this, though I didn’t ask about it specifically, it can be assumed that the portraits listed after that of Deane in the catalogue, of Sir Francis Clare and Lady Clare, by Zucchero, will have been consigned by Major Deane as well, given his name, and the fact the Clares were intertwined with the Deanes by marriage through Sir Anthony’s offspring.
For why he was selling these portraits, it was due to the fact that Major Deane was experiencing severe financial difficulty. By this point, he had already sold much of his inherited property, including estates in Suffolk (some of which can again be traced back to Sir Anthony), and a few years later he would declare bankruptcy.
As for the fate of the portrait, while we have a definite name attached to the owner, unfortunately the fact it failed to sell actually makes it more awkward to trace. We do not know whether he ended up keeping it, or successfully sold it at a later date (auction or terms of bankruptcy), and even the former is a problem as Major Deane did not have a heir, his only child being a daughter who died in infancy.
What we can say is that Major Deane died in 1933, and if the portrait was still in his possession it will have gone to his widow Gertrude Maud [Clare] Deane (née Waddington); she died in 1949, and the probate lists Gerard Lancelot Selby and Harry Prideaux Selby, potentially two names to chase up.
Harwicensis 