Portrait of Mercy Barnes Hall (Mrs. Calvin Hall)(1762-1846)
Date1808
Artist
James Brown
(fl. 1803 - 1808)
MediumOil on fine linen
DimensionsUnframed: 34 1/2 x 30 1/2in. (87.6 x 77.5cm) and Framed: 37 1/4 x 32 3/4 x 2 1/2in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1957.100.2
DescriptionA three-quarter length portrait of a woman seated in a black-painted, stencil-decorated side chair. Behind her, a large red drape occupies much of the space above a plain wall. Through an open window to the viewer's right, trees, white fences, and a white house are visible. She wears an empire-waisted, short-sleeved, scooped-neck grayish-lavendar dress with long sheer white undersleeves; a wide band of black embroidered lace hangs from each dress sleeve to the elbow. The neckline of the dress is filled with white sheer lace and a round, close-fitting collar. She also wears a white cap. She holds a piece of embroidery in her lap, apparently ceasing her work to look up at the painter. Her brown hair falls in ringlets over her forehead. Her face is deeply-lined and hollow-cheeked, her lips thin and drawn. The 2-inch cove-molded gilt frame with beaded inner and gadrooned outer borders is probably a period replacement.
Label TextCalvin Hall served in the Revolutionary War in New York state and in 1804, together with John D. Leland, Jr., he built a tavern in Cheshire, Massachusetts. Presumably it is this building and the homes of their Cheshire neighbors which can be seen in the backgrounds of Mr. and Mrs. Hall's portraits. Hall's Tavern still stands and the wall of its second-floor ballroom, once used for Masonic meetings, are frescoed and decorated with Masonic symbols.
In 1808, the year these likenesses were taken, Hall and his partner built a store adjacent to the tavern and in 1812 they incorporated a glass factory. In 1816, the partners sold both tavern and store and moved to Deerfield (now North Utica), New York, where a new glass factory was established.
Other portraits signed by or attributed to Brown include a life-size, full-length likeness of the Halls' daughter Laura, now in the collection of the New York State Historical Association at Cooperstown, New York.
InscribedThe canvas is signed on the reverse "J. Brown, Pinxt. Jan. 2 [?], 1808."
ProvenanceFound in Sartoga, NY; purchased from The Old Print Shop, New York, NY.
ca. 1760
Probably 1838-1842
ca. 1855
