RevolutionCrossroads/si_us_revolutionary_era_collections huggingface dataset:
James Cunningham, Last Earl of Glencairn
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1790
Artist: Unidentified (British)
Sitter: James Cunningham
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 2 1/2 x 1 7/8 in. (6.3 x 4.8 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William Mouat Hannay
Topics: Occupations
Men
Portraits
Aristocracy (Social class)
Luce Center Label: Born in Scotland, James Cunningham was the fourteenth Earl of Glencairn from 1775 until his death in 1791. Because James had no children, his brother John succeeded him, making John the last earl of Glencairn, rather than James as the title of this piece suggests. After James’s death, his friend the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote “Lament for James Cunningham, 14th Earl of Glencairn.” The last lines of the poem read: “The mother may forget the child/ that smiles sae sweetly on her knee;/ But I’ll remember thee Glencairn/ and a’ that thou hast done for me.” The intricately woven hair on the reverse of the portrait is probably Cunningham’s, suggesting that this was a piece of mourning jewelry.
[None]
Captain Joseph Anthony
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1794
Artist: Walter Robertson, Irish, born Dublin, Ireland ca. 1750-died Fatehpur, India 1801/02
Sitter: Joseph Anthony
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 2 3/4 x 2 1/4 in. (7.0 x 5.7 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ruel P. Tolman
Topics: Occupations
Men
Portraits
Captain
Military
Luce Center Label: Captain Joseph Anthony (1738-1798) was a prosperous Philadelphia merchant. His son Joseph Jr. became a prominent silversmith, and his son Josiah, a fellow merchant. The miniature of Josiah Hewes Anthony is in this collection <b>[see 1952.12.2]</b>. On the back of Captain Anthony’s miniature is a second painting---a mourning scene, with two female figures holding two bluebirds and a red rose. They sit next to a large funerary urn under a massive tree, a temple behind them in the rolling landscape. The tree and grass are made with clippings of hair, and braided locks---perhaps from the captain himself---adorn the perimeter of the image. This second painting is clearly by a different artist, and was probably added to the miniature after the captain’s death.
[None]
Josiah Hewes Anthony
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: 1790
Artist: James Peale, born Chestertown, MD 1749-died Philadelphia, PA 1831
Sitter: Josiah Hewes Anthony
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: 1 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (4.6 x 3.7 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ruel P. Tolman
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: Josiah Hewes Anthony (born about 1769) was the son of the Philadelphia merchant Captain Joseph Anthony, and named for Captain Anthony’s business partner, Josiah Hewes. Josiah’s brother, Joseph Anthony Jr., was a silversmith. Josiah was in his early twenties when this miniature was painted, and later became a wealthy merchant who owned a wharf in Philadelphia. This museum also owns a miniature of Captain Anthony, painted by Walter Robertson <b>[see 1952.12.1]</b>.
James Wilson
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1792
Artist: Jean Pierre Henri Elouis, French, born Caen, France 1755-died Caen, France 1840
Sitter: James Wilson
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 2 5/8 x 2 in. (6.7 x 5.2 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: James Wilson (1742-1798) was a famous American statesman, lawyer, Supreme Court justice, and land speculator. He was born in Carskerdo, Scotland, and immigrated in 1766 to the colonies. He settled in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he practiced law. He promoted the idea that the British parliament held no authority over the colonies, and in 1775 was elected to the Second Continental Congress and penned his signature on the Declaration of Independence. He served a second term in Congress from 1785 to 1787, during which time he won praise for his draft of the federal Constitution. In his last years, land speculations ruined him, and he was remembered as much for his bad business instincts as his impressive contributions to the development of American law. In this portrait the elderly Wilson is shown wearing glasses. The frames must have been imported, as no manufacturer existed in the United States until 1815.
[None]
Member of the Mayfield Family
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1805
Artist: George Place, Irish, born Dublin, Ireland 1760 or 1775-died Lucknow, India 1805 or 1809
Sitter: Mayfield
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: 2 7/8 x 2 1/4 in. (7.3 x 5.8 cm.)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: Until we learn more about George Place’s life and career, it is impossible to know if the artist painted this member of the Mayfield family in the United Kingdom, the United States, or in India. The gentleman’s features appear lifelike, but his disproportionally large head and wide eyes create an unnatural composition.
[None]
Portrait of a Lady
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: 1810
Artist: William M. S. Doyle, born Boston, MA 1769-died Boston, MA 1828
Sitter: unidentified
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 3 x 2 1/2 in. (7.5 x 6.3 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Women
Portraits
Luce Center Label: This young lady appears to have been a prominent member of Boston society in the early nineteenth century. She wears an evening gown of pale, delicate material, with a shawl wrapped around her arms for warmth.
[None]
Portrait of a Gentleman with Initials J. B.
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1795
Artist: Benjamin Trott, born Boston, MA ca. 1770-died Washington, DC 1843
Sitter: unidentified
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 2 1/2 x 2 in. (6.5 x 5.0 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: On the back of this miniature the initials “JB” are monogrammed in gold over hairwork, offering the only clue we have to the identity of the sitter. This piece was originally attributed to Raphaelle Peale, of the Philadelphia family of painters, but was later determined to have been the work of Benjamin Trott.
[None]
Portrait of a Lady
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1775
Artist: Unidentified (French)
Sitter: unidentified
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: 2 3/8 in. (6.0 cm) diam.
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Women
Portraits
Luce Center Label: In this miniature the woman’s sparkling blue eyes draw us into the image. Her hairstyle reflects the French vogue for elaborately teased and “built-up” hair. In a letter from 1783, Thomas Jefferson noted that the simpler colonial styles made a woman’s head “as flat as a flounder.” The sitter imitated European fashions to convey her wealth and status, at a time when many colonial Americans were adopting a plainer style to express their desire for independence.
Member of the Yates Family
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1780
Artist: Unidentified
Sitter: Yates
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 1 5/8 x 1 3/8 in. (4.1 x 3.5 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: Mr. Yates’s hair, with its two curls above each ear, reflects the style of the late eighteenth century when men made the transition from wigs to their own, often powdered, hair. The sitter’s elongated nose, thin lips, sad eyes, and weak jawline give him a feeble appearance, and he may have chosen to wear a vibrantly colored coat in his portrait to compensate for these timid features.
[None]
Mrs. Richard Yates
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1790
Artist: Unidentified
Sitter: Mrs. Richard Yates
Catherine Brass
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 1 7/8 x 1 1/2 in. (4.7 x 3.8 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Women
Portraits
Luce Center Label: Catherine Brass Yates was the wife of Richard Yates, a senior partner with the New York law firm Yates & Pollock. In this miniature, Mrs. Yates wears a dress and fichu (a scarf worn to fill in a neckline), and her hair is mostly hidden beneath a large bonnet. The painter focused on the sitter’s eyes, which are downcast to suggest a moment of reflection.
[None]
Lawrence Reid Yates
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1794
Artist: Walter Robertson, Irish, born Dublin, Ireland ca. 1750-died Fatehpur, India 1801/02
Copy after: Gilbert Stuart, born Saunderstown, Rhode Island Colony (now North Kingstown, RI) 1755-died Bosto
Sitter: Lawrence Reid Yates
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 3 x 2 3/8 in. (7.5 x 6.0 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: Lawrence Reid Yates (died 1796) was a New York merchant who had his portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart. Walter Robertson, who came to the United States at Stuart’s urging, often copied in miniature his mentor’s paintings, and this image of Yates is such a copy. The full-scale portrait hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and was painted in 1793 or 1794. A miniature of Richard Yates’s wife, by an unknown artist, is also in this collection <b>[see 1956.1.2]</b>.
[None]
Mrs. Elizabeth Pollock Hartigan
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: 1795
Artist: Walter Robertson, Irish, born Dublin, Ireland ca. 1750-died Fatehpur, India 1801/02
Sitter: Mrs. Elizabeth Pollock Hartigan
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: 2 5/8 x 2 1/8 in. (6.7 x 5.4 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Women
Portraits
[None]
Marine
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting
Date: ca. 1802-1828
Artist: Unidentified (British)
Formerly attributed to: Richard Parkes Bonington, English, born Arnold, England 1801/02-died London, England 1828
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 12 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. (31.1 x 24.1 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne
Topics: Boats and boating
Industrialization
Architecture
Sailboats
Occupations
Figure group
Shipping
Harbors
Waterscapes
[None]
Landscape
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting
Date: late 18th century
Artist: Unidentified (British)
Formerly attributed to: Thomas Gainsborough, English, born Sudbury, England 1727-died London, England 1788
Medium: oil on wood
Dimensions: 11 x 13 in. (27.9 x 33.0 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne
Topics: Water
Landscapes
Figure group
[None]
Small Landscape
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting
Date: ca. 1750-1800
Artist: Unidentified (British)
Copy after: Thomas Gainsborough, English, born Sudbury, England 1727-died London, England 1788
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 17 1/4 x 21 3/4 in. (43.8 x 55.2 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne
Topics: Landscapes
Animals
Cattle
Figure group
[None]
Portrait of a Boy
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting
Date: ca. 1800
Artist: Unidentified (Italian)
Sitter: unidentified
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 27 x 25 in. (68.6 x 63.5 cm.)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne
Topics: Men
Portraits
Figure male
Children
Luce Center Label: In this portrait the artist captured the forceful and confident personality of a boy. The youth wears a jacket, red vest, and a stylish white cravat with an upturned collar, suggesting his future role in society as an upper-class gentleman. The sitter was probably eleven or twelve years old when his portrait was made, but his identity, as well as the artist’s, is unknown.
[None]
Portrait of a Gentleman
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting
Date: ca. 1800
Artist: Unidentified (British)
Sitter: unidentified
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 29 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. (74.9 x 62.2 cm.)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne
Topics: Men
Portraits
[None]
Rouen Cathedral
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting
Date: ca. 1796-1826
Artist: David Roberts, Scottish, born Stockbridge, Scotland 1796-died London, England 1864
Medium: oil on wood
Dimensions: sight 14 3/4 x 12 1/2 in. (37.5 x 31.7 cm.)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne
Topics: Architecture
Figure group
Religion
Cityscapes
Rouen Cathedral
Church buildings
[None]
Apollo and the Seasons (Classical Landscape)
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting
Date: ca. 1770-1779
Attributed to: Richard Wilson, Welsh, born Penegoes, Wales 1714-died Llanberis, Wales 1782
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 27 3/4 x 35 3/4 in. (70.5 x 90.8 cm.)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mabel Johnson Langhorne
Topics: Landscapes
Mythology
Seasons
Apollo (Greek deity)
[None]
Fan
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Decorative Arts
Date: 1790-1820
Artist: Unidentified (French)
Medium: shell; fabric; metal
Dimensions: length: 6 3/4 in. (17.3 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore through Mr. Henry L. Milmore
[None]
Fan
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Decorative Arts
Date: 1780-1800
Artist: Unidentified (Italian)
Medium: paper; ivory
Dimensions: length: 10 in. (25.3 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore through Mr. Henry L. Milmore
Topics: Disasters
Fire
Waterscapes
[None]
Fan
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Decorative Arts
Date: 1770-1775
Artist: Unidentified (French)
Medium: fabric; ivory; spangles
Dimensions: length: 11 1/8 in. (28.2 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore through Mr. Henry L. Milmore
Topics: Fans
Vase
Clothing and dress
Dress accessories
Flowers
Fan
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Decorative Arts
Date: 1750-1800
Artist: Unidentified (Dutch)
Medium: paper; ivory
Dimensions: length: 11 in. (28.0 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore through Mr. Henry L. Milmore
Topics: Landscapes
Men
Figure group
Religion
Bible, O.T.
Angels
[None]
David McClellan
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1805
Artist: Benjamin Trott, born Boston, MA ca. 1770-died Washington, DC 1843
Sitter: David McClellan
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 3 x 2 1/2 in. (7.6 x 6.2 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Men
Portraits
not dated
Luce Center Label: These portraits were painted in 1805, after Benjamin Trott had set out on horseback for a yearlong journey westward. They are two of the many works created as the artist made his way through Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Ohio, states that then defined the nation’s western borders.
[None]
James Rumsey
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting
Date: ca. 1790
Attributed to: George William West, born St. Andrew's Parish, MD 1770-died 1795
Sitter: James Rumsey
Medium: oil on wood
Dimensions: 4 7/8 x 4 1/8 in. (12.4 x 10.5 cm) rectangle
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Eugene A. Rumsey and Brothers
Topics: Engineering
Industrialization
Occupations
Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: Born in 1743, James Rumsey was a man of many trades. Although not formally educated, he was skilled at science, blacksmithing, cabinetmaking, and milling. In 1784, George Washington commissioned Rumsey to build a house and stable for him at his residence in Bath, Virginia. Washington also supported Rumsey’s vision---realized in 1786---of building a steamboat capable of navigating the Potomac River. The first trial run was not a success, but a reworked design of 1787 fared better. Rumsey spent four years in London in search of financial backers. One day, after showing the latest model, the Columbia Maid, he fell ill and died from what his doctors described as “overstraining his brain.”
[None]
T. Stanford
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1795
Artist: Ebenezer Mack, born 1765-died 1833
Sitter: T. Stanford
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 2 5/8 x 2 1/8 in. (6.7 x 5.4 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: The inscription “T. Stanford” found on a piece of paper in the back of this locket is the only clue to the sitter’s identity.
[None]
Col. Josiah Parker
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1789
Artist: John Ramage, born Dublin, Ireland ca. 1748-died Montreal, Quebec, Canada 1802
Sitter: Col. Josiah Parker
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: 1 5/8 x 1 1/4 in. (4.2 x 3.2 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Uniforms
Occupations
Clothing and dress
Men
Portraits
Military
Luce Center Label: Josiah Parker was a Revolutionary soldier and politician. He served in Virginia under George Washington, becoming a major in 1776 and a colonel the following year. He saw action at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Brandywine. His short temper got the better of him, however, and he resigned from the army in 1778. Thereafter he served as a naval officer for Norfolk, Virginia, and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. As a member of the First Congress, he voted to place the U.S. Capitol on the Potomac. Although he appears in his uniform, it is likely this miniature was painted when Parker took his seat in Congress.
[None]
A. Laurason
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1805
Artist: Jean Francois De Vallee, active 1794-1828
Sitter: A. Laurason
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 2 1/2 in. (6.5 cm) diam.
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mary Taylor
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: There is evidence to suggest that a man named A. Laurason worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in New Orleans. However, the railroad that ran through New Orleans was not absorbed by Southern Pacific until the 1880s, so the man who worked for the railroad may have been a descendant of the gentleman in this portrait.
Vallee
French Fan
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Decorative Arts
Date: 1775-1800
Artist: Unidentified (French)
Medium: mother of pearl, gouache on vellum, and stone
Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 20 1/8 in. (26.7 x 51.0 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore through Mr. Henry L. Milmore
Topics: Courting
Shepherd
Landscapes
Amusements
Reading
Architecture
Recreation
Farms
Occupations
Monuments
Figure group
Rivers
[None]
Chinese Export fan (Brise)
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Decorative Arts
Date: late 18th century
Artist: Unidentified (Chinese)
Medium: carved ivory, blue silk ribbon, and mother of pearl
Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 18 in. (26.7 x 45.7 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore through Mr. Henry L. Milmore
Topics: Fans
Clothing and dress
Dress accessories
French Fan
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Decorative Arts
Date: ca. 1775
Artist: Unidentified (French)
Medium: carved mother of pearl, gouache and gilt on vellum, gold sequins, and turquoise stones
Dimensions: 8 1/4 x 15 3/4 in. (20.9 x 40.0 cm)
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore through Mr. Henry L. Milmore
Topics: Mountains
Courting
Landscapes
Recreation
Figure group
[None]
Miriam Etting Myers
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1805
Artist: Benjamin Trott, born Boston, MA ca. 1770-died Washington, DC 1843
Sitter: Miriam Etting Myers
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: 3 x 2 1/4 in. (7.7 x 5.7 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Women
Portraits
Luce Center Label: Miriam Etting Meyers (Mrs. Jacob Meyers) was born in 1787 and died in 1808. Her father, Solomon Etting, whose portrait was also painted by Benjamin Trott, led the movement in Maryland’s statehouse for the “Jew Bill,” which permitted Jews in Maryland to hold public office without having to first renounce their faith. This miniature was first attributed to Edward Greene Malbone, a rival portraitist whose success Trott greatly envied. Malbone had approached Trott in 1809 in hopes that the two painters could exchange some of their works and learn from each other’s strengths, but Trott quickly rejected the idea.
[None]
Portrait of a Lady
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1800
Attributed to: P. E. Stroëhling, Russian, born Dusseldorf, Germany 1768-died London, England ca. 1826
Sitter: unidentified
unidentified
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 2 x 1 5/8 in. (5.1 x 4.1 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Women
Portraits
Children
Luce Center Label: Painted around the beginning of the nineteenth century, this portrait shows a romantic profile of a young lady with a scarf wrapped carelessly around her disheveled hair.
Portrait of a Gentleman
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: ca. 1795
Artist: Unidentified
Sitter: unidentified
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 1 3/8 x 1 1/8 in. (3.6 x 2.7 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Men
Portraits
Luce Center Label: This image of a young gentleman with powdered hair and traditional dress was originally thought to be by Edward Savage, but research has since proved this not to be the case. We do not yet know the identity of the artist or the sitter.
[None]
Mrs. George Willig
Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object type: Painting-Miniature
Date: 1804
Artist: Philippe Abraham Peticolas, born Meziers, France 1760-died Petersburg, VA 1841
Sitter: Mrs. George Willig
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: sight 1 3/4 x 2 1/8 in. (4.3 x 5.5 cm) oval
Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Topics: Women
Portraits
Luce Center Label: George Willig (1764-1851) was a German expatriate who, arriving in Philadelphia in 1794, took over the first music publishing company in America. He published sheet music through the 1840s, and his son, George Jr., ran a Baltimore branch of the firm from 1829 to 1879. Given Peticolas’s serious interest in music, it seems appropriate that he would paint the music publisher’s wife.
[None]