Portrait of Abby Byrd Page (1790-1888)
Date1815
Attributed to
Francis Cezeron
(fl. 1805 - 1815)
MediumOil on wood panel
DimensionsOverall: 11 1/2 × 9 1/2in. (29.2 × 24.1cm)
Credit LineBequest of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hennage
Object number2020-337,A&B
DescriptionSide profile portrait of a young woman wearing a black dress with pearl necklace and drop earrings against a grey background. Her brown hair is pulled up into a bun and a few curls frame her face.Label TextAbby Byrd Page was the daughter of John Page and Maria Horsmanden Byrd Page. Her maternal grandparents were William Byrd III and Mary Shippin Willing Byrd of Westover. Abby was born in 1789 and around 1816 married John Hopkins of Winchester, Virginia. Together the couple had three children.
The portrait was likely painted by the French artist Francis Cezeron. Little is known about his training, but newspaper advertisements track his time in the United Sates from Pennsylvania, Maryland and finally Virginia. Colonial Williamsburg also owns portraits of the Mason brothers of Loudon County, Virginia done by Cezeron around the same time.
ProvenanceBefore 1959, Israel Sack, Inc. (New York, New York); 1976, purchased by Joseph and June Hennage (Williamsburg, VA); 2020, by bequest to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)
1815 probably
Probably 1838-1842
ca. 1735
1606-1615 (possibly)
