Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death, and sent to Isaac Burnet Davenport (1854-1922) (1854-1922);
• 1922: bequeathed to his daughter Nellie Burnett Davenport (1885-1972), Le Vesinay, France;
• 1972?: passed by family descent to Myriam Davenport Williford (1917-2003), Larchmont, N.Y., daughter of Ralph Slocum Davenport (1891-1955) and his first wife Francine (d. 1929), and to Myriam's daughter, Francine Davenport Williford (Mrs M. Oliver) (b. 1849);
• 1982: with Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York;
• 1986: sold at auction, Sotheby's, New York, 29 May 1986 (lot 144, repr.);
• 1986: sold by Berry-Hill, New York art dealers, to Adolph 'Bucks' Naftali Weil, (1915-1995), Alabama;
• 1986: gift of Mrs Jean Kaufman Weil (1922-2012), and Mr Adolph Weil Jr., Class of 1935, to Hood Museum of Art.

After Whistler's death and on his instructions the portrait was varnished and sent to the sitter.

The Slocums of America gives details of the family:

'Doctor Isaac Burnett Davenport married in Paris 4 December, 1884, Josephine Victorine Coutin, who was born 8 June, 1854, at St. Jorioz, Haute-Savoie, France, daughter of Michel and Louise (Chappet) Coutin. ... This marriage has been blest with children, viz.:

i. Nellie Burnett Davenport, born 30 August, 1885, at Bois de Colombe, near Paris, France.

ii. Minnie May Davenport, b. 5 May, 1887, Neuilly, Paris.

iii. Ralph Slocum Davenport, born 12 April, 1891, at 30 Avenue de I'Opera, Paris.

iv. Fred Lincoln Davenport, born 24 January, 1894, at Le Vesinet, Seine et Oise, France; died 16 January, 1908.' 1

Andrew McLaren Young (1913-1975) noted that the portrait was owned in 1961 by Mrs Davenport of Larchmont, New York, and information regarding it was to be obtained from Miss Nellie Davenport, Le Vesinay, France. 2 Later it was owned by Myriam Davenport Williford, the daughter of the sitter's brother Ralph Slocum Davenport (1891-1955) and his first wife Francine (d. 1929), and passed to Mrs Williford's daughter Francine Davenport Williford. Francine deposited it with the Berry-Hill Galleries in 1982, and it was sold by Berry-Hill in 1986 and given by the purchasers, Mr and Mrs Adolph Weil, Jr, to the Hood Museum of Art.

Exhibitions

• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 28) as 'Portrait du Docteur Davenport'.

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.