ATTRIBUTED TO SIR WILLIAM BEECHEY (BRITISH 1753-1839)PORTRAIT OF A LADY, WEARING A WHITE DRESS, IN A FEIGNED OVALOil on canvas72 x 61.5cm (28¼ x 24 in.)Provenance:George A. Hearn, New YorkSale, American Art Galleries, New York, 1 March 1918, lot 392Acquired at the above sale by Frank C. Ball, Muncie, IndianaBall Brothers Foundation, Muncie, 1936The Ball State University Museum of Art, 1995Gift from the aboveSale, Christie's, New York, 1 September 2011, lot 300 (as 'Portrait of Mrs. Humphrey')品相报告: Canvas has been relined, paint layer appears stable. Surface dirt and discolouration of the varnish. Areas of craquelure, predominantly in the pillar and the sky to the left of the sitter. UV light reveals several retouches of the craquelure (including in the sitter's face) as well as several restorations: a diagonal tear in her right shoulder of approx.. 7 cm; a hook shaped tear running from halfway down the sky through the sitter's waist until the right edge of her arm, incorporating a central patch slightly below the blue sash, after which it runs up along the curve of her left shoulder, through to her headband and continuing horizontally through the sky; another hook shaped tear of approx. 8 cm below the blue sash.