Provenance

• 1880/1881: given to Antoinette 'Nita' Gaetano Moncrieff (1844-1937) , London.

It is difficult to establish Mrs Moncrieff's identity. According to the Pennells, Mrs Moncrieff bought 'a small marine' from Whistler, but this has not been identified or included in this catalogue. 1

Marriage records for Adams County, Mississippi, list 'Clarence Mackey' and 'Mered Cayetano' as married on 5 February 1844. New Orleans births in 1845 include 'Antoinette Therese Mackay', daughter of 'Clarence Wade McKay' and 'Merce Caitano'. Caitano and Cayetano could be misspellings of Caetano or Gaetano, and Mackay and Mackey, variants of Mackie.

On 10 December 1878 'Antoinette Gaetano Mackie' married a retired Commander in the Royal Navy, Lynedoch Needham Moncrieff (1841-1883). Her father was recorded at that time as John Clarence Mackie of New Orleans. The Moncrieffs lived near Whistler, at 75 Cadogan Place in Chelsea. They had one daughter, Mary Mercedes Julie Moncrieff (1880-1974) who married Henry Crofton Schneider (1876-1939).

The 1901 UK census records 'Antoinette Moncrief', aged 49 (that is, born ca 1852), widow, born in Havana, Cuba! The 1911 UK census lists Mrs Lynedoch Moncrieff, widow, 'Artist composer', aged 56, and thus born ca 1855, in New Orleans, her nationality being given as 'Spanish/Scotch', and this ties in with her birth-place as recorded in 1845, but minimised her age.

Death and probate records list the death of 'Antoinette Marie Lynedoch Moncrieff' in Kensington on 25 July 1937.

Exhibitions

• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 127) as 'Illustrations for "Thoughts at Sunrise," a song by Mrs. Moncrieff'.