Provenance: Hirschl & Adler, New York, circa 1970s.
Private Collection, Florida.
Private Collection, West Virginia.
LITERATURE:
Thomas Humphry Ward and William Roberts, Romney: A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Raisonné of his Works, T. Agnew, London, 1904, II, p. 55.
Alex Kidson, George Romney: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2015, Vol. III, no. 1540, p. 710, as Unknown Man (per the author, the correct cataloguing should be Vol II, no. 782, p. 356).
NOTE:
Sir Michael le Fleming was the only son of Sir William Fleming and succeeded his father as 4th Baronet upon his death in 1757. He graduated from Eton College in 1770, and four years later, he represented Westmorland in the House of Commons - a duty he only left upon his own death 32 years later, in 1806. Fleming was described by his friend James Boswell as "a very fashionable baronet in the brilliant world." In the present work, Sir Michael le Fleming is shown wearing the jacket of the Westmorland Militia, which, according to Alex Kidson, might suggest that the original purpose of the portrait was to commemorate his tenure as lieutenant-colonel in 1779. Another version of this painting, destroyed shortly after its completion, is referenced in the Artist's account book of 1781 and ledger of 1787. Another small version was executed by Romney's pupil, Thomas Barrow, and remained at le Fleming's residence at Rydal Hall.