Portrait of Jerusha Bradford Weston (Mrs. Ezra Weston, Jr.)(1770-1833)

DateProbably 1793

Attributed to Rufus Hathaway (1770-1822)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 38 1/4 x 25 1/8in. (97.2 x 63.8cm) and Framed: 43 3/4 x 31in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1973.100.7

DescriptionA half-length portrait of a seated woman turned one quarter towards the viewer's left. She has brown hair and brown eyes, her hair parted in the middle and falling loose down her back. She wears a blue dress, the bodice of which is covered by a large white kerchief. She wears black bracelets with silver clasps over the ends of the sleeves of her dress. She wears a brimmed, tall-crowned black hat decorated with a pink plume and two white tassels. Around her neck, she wears a length of black cording tied in a bow, as well as a gold locket. Her proper right arm rests on a red cloth-covered table or other surface. The background is a cool gray with a somewhat lighter vertical streak near the middle.
The 3-inch molded white pine frame, painted black, with gold inner and outer borders, is original.
Label TextThis portrait is one of a group of four Weston likenesses that descended through the family until the mid- twentieth century. On the basis of style, they are attributed to the Duxbury physician and painter, Rufus Hathaway. Hathaway's works are characterized by a vigorous linear quality and juxtaposed areas of light and dark tones which create a nervous tension about the sitters' faces, giving the paintings a wonderful decorative quality. Hathaway successfully compensated for his inability to render human anatomy accurately by carefully describing details of the sitters' costumes--the plumes of a hat, or pieces of lace and jewelry. Jerusha Bradford was born in Duxbury on January 30, 1770, the daughter of Colonel Gamaliel and Sarah (Alden) Bradford. She was the sixth generation descended from William Bradford, second governor of Plymouth Colony and the fifth generation on her mother's side from John and Priscilla Alden. She and Ezra‚ Weston had six children.
InscribedPainted on the back of the original canvas ca. 1845, at the time a duplicate portrait of Ezra Weston, Sr., was made, is: "Jerusha Bradford/daughter of/Col. Gamabriel(sic)/and his wife--Alden--/Born Jany. 30th 1770/Died-- Octr 11th 1833--/Mard Ezra/Jan. 2,1793."
ProvenanceDescended as part of a group from Ezra Weston, Jr., of Duxbury, Mass., probably to son Hon. Gershom Bradford Weston, probably to son Capt. Gershom Weston, to daughter Judith Sprague Weston Kendal, to daughter Mrs. Margaret S Kendal Carter of Waltham, Mass.; purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Howard Lipman, New York, N.Y., 1948; in possession of Miss Mary Allis, Southport, Conn. by 1949