"The Decorated House"

Dateca. 1875

OriginAmerica, New York, Oneida County, Westernville (probably)

MediumWatercolor and pencil on wove paper

Dimensions19" X 27"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1989.302.1

DescriptionWatercolor painting of an ornately decorated and detailed brick house set in a landscaped and fenced lot.
Label TextPride and sentiment often prompted nineteenth-century homeowners to commisson portraits of their dwellings. This opulent example shows the range of cosmetic devices that could be used to dress up simple structures. Ornamental finials on the dormers, cut-out patterns on the risers of the stairs, grain-painted woodwork, and a variety of other decorative painting techniques and scroll-sawn architectural elements transformed a modest farmhouse into a lavish display of color and pattern.

Other architectural pictures attributed to the same artist are known. One depicts barns and outbuildings likely associated with the house shown here. Another rendering of a house has a history of coming from Westernville, New York, leading to speculation that this piece came from there as well.
ProvenanceBefore 1984-1989, Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Marcus (West Palm Beach, FL); 1989 (Sotheby's, New York, NY, October 14, 1989, Sale 5906, Lot 31); 1989-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.