Probably the sitter's parents, John Joseph Townsend [1825-1889] and Catherine Bronson Townsend [1833-1926].[1] (Carroll Carstairs Gallery, New York), by at least 1931;[2] sold 1936 to Andrew W. Mellon [1855-1937], Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.;[3] gift to his son, Paul Mellon [1907-1999], Upperville, Virginia;[4] bequest 1999 to NGA, with life interest to his wife, Rachel Lambert Mellon; life interest released 2006. [1] Sargent also painted John J. Townsend in 1882, and two portraits of Catherine Bronson Townsend. The Bronsons were part of the artist's expatriate circle in Florence, and the Townsend's patronage most likely resulted from old family ties, although contemporary details concerning the commissions have yet to emerge. See Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, _John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits. Complete Paintings, Volume I_, New Haven and London, 1998: nos. 43-46. [2] Mr. Carstairs lent the painting to a 1931 exhibition. [3] It was announced in the 27 April 1936 issue of _Art News_ (p. 12) that the painting had "recently been sold by the Carroll Carstairs Gallery ... to a private Collector in Washington," who was probably Andrew Mellon. The article also said the painting "comes directly from the Townsend estate." [4] Mrs. Paul Mellon, in a letter of 20 June 2006 to Earl A. Powell III, writes that the painting "was the only picture that [Mr. Mellon's] father Andrew Mellon gave him" (copy in NGA curatorial files).