ca. 1758-before 1764, the sitter, Mrs. William Allen before 1764-1790 or 1793, the sitter, William Allen

1790 or 1793-1831, his son, Colonel William Allen

1831-1833, his sister, Anne Armistead Allen

1833-1857, her daughter, Martha Armistead Edloe

1857-1875, her son, William Griffin Orgain, who took the name of Allen

his son, William Allen

his widow, Mrs. William Allen. 1927, dealer, Robert C. Vose (Boston, Massachusetts, USA)

1927-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Burroughs, Clyde H. "Portraits by Wallaston and Harding." Bulletin of the DIA 9, 2 (November 1927): p. 20. [attributed to Wollaston] Heil, Walter, and Clyde H. Burroughs. Catalogue of Paintings in the Permanent Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit.. Detroit, 1930, p. 410. [attributed to Wollaston] Survey of Colonial and Provincial Painting. Exh. cat., The University Gallery, University of Minnesota. 1939, p. 17, no. 45 (ill.). [attributed to Wollaston] Sellers, Charles Coleman. "Mezzotint Prototypes of Colonial Portraiture: A Survey Based on the Research of Waldron Phoenix Belknap, Jr." Art Quarterly 20 (Winter 1957): p. 432, no. 18D (pl. 22). Belknap, Waldron Phoenix, Jr. American Colonial Painting. Cambridge, MA, 1959, p. 295, no. 18D (pl. 22). Shaw, Nancy Rivard, et al. American Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Volume 1: Works by Artists Born Before 1816. New York, 1991, pp. 124-126, no. 53.

John Hesselius, Mrs. William Allen, between 1756 and 1758, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Dexter M. Ferry, Jr., 27.607.