Artwork with local roots comes back into public care
A striking portrait painted in 1919 of two sisters from a family long associated with the Ballymena and Kells area has been formally handed to the council-run Mid-Antrim Museum.
The oil painting of Anna and Rosemary Dinsmore, by the Victorian Neoclassical artist Herbert James Draper, was presented to the museum on 13 August by Mrs Clover Bell, in memory of her late husband, Nelson Bell. The work will be conserved by the museum before it is put on public display.
The donation was accepted by the Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Alderman Thomas Gordon. Also present was Mrs Anne Stewart, a former curator of art at the Ulster Museum, who has a personal connection with the piece after seeing it in the Dinsmore family home during her childhood.
"A striking portrait painted more than a century ago of two sisters from a family deeply woven into the history of Ballymena and Kells has returned to the local community."
Local provenance and wider cultural interest
The Dinsmore family have longstanding links to the area: their connection with Kells dates back to 1807, when Francis Dinsmore purchased the village mill. Over successive generations the family developed and modernised the business, which remains in family ownership.
The family’s industrial and civic presence in the area means the portrait carries significance beyond its artistic merit. The painting’s return is therefore both a cultural and community event for residents who recognise the Dinsmore name from local history and business.
Donation and future plans
Mrs Clover Bell, whose late husband ran the Bell Gallery in Belfast and contributed to the visual arts in Ireland, formerly acquired the painting from the Dinsmore family. By donating it to the museum she has placed the work within a public collection where it can be conserved and interpreted for local audiences.
- Donor: Mrs Clover Bell (in memory of Nelson Bell)
- Recipient: Mid-Antrim Museum (Mid and East Antrim Council)
- Artist: Herbert James Draper
- Subjects: Anna (aged 19) and Rosemary Dinsmore (aged 8)
- Year painted: 1919
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | Herbert James Draper |
| Subjects | Anna and Rosemary Dinsmore |
| Date | 1919 |
| Current location | Mid-Antrim Museum (to be conserved) |
The museum has indicated the work will be conserved before it goes on display; conservation is a routine but essential process that stabilises and, where appropriate, restores works to a condition suitable for public exhibition. No timescale for completion of conservation or the display date has been released.
Community reaction and significance
Those present at the presentation described the moment as meaningful for the local community. Mrs Anne Stewart’s attendance underlined the painting’s resonance for people who first encountered it in a private setting; its transfer into a public collection marks a change in accessibility, allowing a wider audience to view and study the work.
For local historians and residents with connections to Ballymena and Kells, the portrait represents a tangible link to the townships’ pasts. Such objects often prompt renewed interest in family and local histories and can become focal points for educational work and exhibitions that explore regional social and industrial development.
The donation also highlights continuing relationships between private collectors and public institutions in Northern Ireland. Gifts of this nature strengthen municipal collections and offer opportunities for council museums to broaden their displays and interpretative programmes.
Further details regarding the conservation programme and the date the painting will be displayed publicly are expected to be provided by the Mid-Antrim Museum in due course.
