Stubbs in the Louvre
Sir: Sir Michael Levey's appreciative re- view of Sir Lawrence Gowing's Paintings in the Louvre (9 April) regretted the museum's 'meagre representations of the 18th-century British School (no Hogarth, no Stubbs, and only a second-rate Reynolds)'.
In its efforts to represent this School better, the Louvre two years ago took possession of a Stubbs that the Duchess of Windsor gave it in 1973, under pre- servation of a life interest. It is reputed to show `Assheton, 1st Viscount Curzon leading his mare Maria'. Readers of The Spectator might be able to help the Louvre's attempts to validate this identi- fication, by confirming or denying that Viscount Curzon indeed owned a horse of this name, and — if they see the picture saying whether the house shown in the background is one of his seats: Penn in Buckinghamshire, or Hagley in Stafford- shire (both now demolished).
Alistair Laing
24 Aberdeen Road, London N5
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