Elizabeth I

Object Details

• Provenance

  18th century-?

  Unidentified individual, probably British, by commission in Calcutta (now Kolkota) or Madras (now Chennai), India [1]

  ?-at least 1990

  Ownership information unknown

  At least 1990-1991

  Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Inc. (active 1981-ca. 2007), Falmouth, ME, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1991

  Freer Gallery of Art, Freer Study Collection, purchased from Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Inc. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Curatorial Remark, dated April 22, 2024, copy in object file. This object was probably made for a British client in a commercial painting studio in Calcutta (now Kolkata) or Madras (now Chennai) during the late eighteenth century. It was likely taken back to Britain in the eighteenth century or the nineteenth century.

  [2] See incoming receipt, dated October 10 and 12, 1990, copy in object file. The object was transferred from Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Inc., to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on October 10, 1990. Object is described as, “Watercolor on paper; Elizabeth I.”

  See also invoice from Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Inc., dated February 21, 1991, copy in object file. Object is described as, “Oval Indian miniature of Queen Elizabeth I of England probably after a print by Crispin van de Passe I.”

  Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Inc. (active 1981-ca. 2007) was a dealer of American, European, Islamic, Asian art, and “historical material.” Between 1961 and 1981, Marvin S. Sadik (1932-2013) served as the Director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, ME; the Art Museum at the University of Connecticut (now the William Benton Museum of Art) in Storr, CT; and the Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery. Following his retirement from the Smithsonian, Sadik returned to Maine, where he established Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Inc. Sadik and his colleague, Lawrence Hayde, only produced a few catalogues in the late 1990s and they did not advertise.

  [3] See Freer Gallery of Art, “Acquisition Consideration Form,” approved on February 28, 1990, copy in object file.

  Research updated April 29, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Exhibition History

  Body Image (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Inc. (active 1981-ca. 2007)

• Origin

  Calcutta (now Kolkota) or Madras (now Chennai), India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1790s

• Name

  Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Inc.

• Place

  Madras now Chennai, Calcutta now Kolkota, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Queen, Portraits

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings