JULIUS CAESAR IBBETSON (1759-1817) 'FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE' oil on panel 41cm x 53cm PROVENANCE:Foster and Son, 54 Pall Mall, February 1907 Sir Drummond Spencer-Smith Bt. Sotheby’s sale 22nd June 1949 lot 71, acquired bySir Ivo Mallet, thence by descent. Sir Ivo Mallettwas British Ambassador in Yugoslavia and Spain in the 1950s, also serving as Consul-General at Tangier, and in Constantinople, Angora, Berlin and Rome. He played a key role in securing the future of Trieste at a time when Italy and Yugoslavia were coming close to conflict, and held British interests with Spain under Franco at a strenuous period. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1925, having been educated at Harrow and Balliol. He was appointed CMG in 1945, knighted KCMG in 1951, and given the higher knighthood of GBE in 1960. Born in 1900, he was the son of Sir Charles Mallet, historian and Liberal politician, and was descended from Jacques Mallet du Pan (1749-1800), political journalist, Counter-Revolutionary, and associate of Voltaire. He died in 1988.