Portrait of Elizabeth Theresa Burnley Gwathmey (Mrs. William Gwathmey)(b.1806)
Date1836
Attributed to
William Henry Fairfax (ac. 1830s)
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOther (unframed): 14 x 11in. (35.6 x 27.9cm) and Framed: 19 x 16in. (48.3 x 40.6cm)
Credit LineGift of the Burlington-Gwathmey Memorial Foundation
Object number1988-451,A
DescriptionA bust-length portrait of a young woman, her body turned 3/4 to the left, head slightly so, eyes toward the viewer. She has hazel eyes and dark brown hair. She wears a black, round-necked dress having sleeves very full over the upper arm. Over her shoulders, she wears a plaid, fringed shawl, two points of it hanging at her waist. She also wears a white bonnet with a double ruffle having a black bow on the top and another at the back of her head; it is tied with a black ribbon beneath her chin. The background is an overall lavender-brown, with no depiction of a setting.Label TextElizabeth Theresa Burnley was born June 9, 1806, the daughter of Hardin and Mary Overton Burnley. On May 18, 1826, she married Dr. William Gwathmey, and they had eight children. In 1836 when William Henry Fairfax painted companion portraits
ProvenanceGift of the Burlington-Gwathmey Memorial Foundation. Evidence suggests the paintings descended through the family at Burlington.
The group of portraits, 1988-448 through 451, were a previous loan to CW in 1987.
Exhibition(s)
Probably 1838-1842
ca. 1835
ca. 1845