Family Group

Dateca. 1795

OriginEurope, Spain or Mexico (possibly)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 38 3/4 x 53 1/2in. (98.4 x 135.9cm) and Framed: 44 3/4 x 60in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.100.18

DescriptionOil portrait of four member family group in interior. Background is brownish tan with heavy green curtains with fringe,rope and tassles along upper corners and down both sides.(Barely visible). Man seated on left, fairly old, in round backed red sidechair with gold trim. He wears a green top coat in the style of 1776 with a row of large oval buttons down the right side of the coat, green pants, the lace of his shirt sleeves is visible at the wrists of his coat, and he holds a rolled up piece of paper in his right hand. His vest is embroidered with gold thread in floral motifs and embroidery heavier around edges. It is partially unbuttoned to see the fine lace of his neckcloth. His white hair(probably a wig) is dressed in the style of the revolutionary period, two rolls of curls over each ear, brush back from forehead and tied in back in a ponytail. He wears a black ribbon at his waist with a gold watch fob attached to it. His left arm is around the taller of the two boys. This boy wears a cut-away type of coat which is green with white lapels, and double rows of buttons, one down each lapel. His vest is double-breasted also. He wears a white neckcloth with a dark oval shaped pin surrounded by a row of pearls. The boy's white vest has small red flowers with green stems embroidered on it. He has brown eyes, straight bangs low across his forehead and long brown hair. He wears a pink sash and holds a tan hat in his right hand and a black walking stick in his left. He is standing between the old Man (his grandfather?) and an old woman (his grandmother?). The older woman is seated on a chair similar to that old man. She is in a white dress belted at the waist, with sleeves fitting fairly tightly and reaching to her elbows, and a square necked dress with lace trim at the neckline. The dress has small sprays of red and greenflowers on it. Below the neckline of the dress, the floral pattern is more elaborate. Her belt is fairly wide and has two rows of four buttons each fastening it slightly off center of middle. She wears an enormous amount of jewelry, a gold chain necklace around her neck fastened to her bodice in three places so that it forms a series of swags,and the loop in the center is fastened with a large gold oval pin. There are two gold tassles looped through her belt, one of which terminates in a gold locket and the other terminates in a locket with the bust of a woman in a pink dress and hat. In her right hand she holds an apple, and on her wrist she wears a golden chain wrapped around her wrist eight times. She wears four rings on her right hand, the largest of which is an enormous blue-black oval with what appear to be initials set in it in diamonds. Her left grips the wrist of the younger boy, and has three rings on it. In her ears she wears ornate, large silver earrings, she has blue eyes with a large blackpatch to the left of her left eye, blonde hair brushed back from forehead, and a brown tiara. The younger boy has hair cut similarly to brother, and looks like him, straight hair with low straight bangs, same round oval face, blonde hair, blue eyes, and similar vest and pin and stock. His coat however is green with white piping. He holds a brown bird in her left hand.
Label TextPrior ownership records espouse the claim that these sitters are the Coldenham, New York, residents Cadwallader Colden II, his wife Elizabeth Ellison, and two of their many grandchildren. However, certain peculiarities--particularly the mysterious black patch and other rather exotic costume details--have led many authorities to question whether this portrait is American. It has been suggested that it is Danish, Swedish, Mexican, South American, Cuban, Dutch, French, Spanish, or Austrian! Probably the black patch represents a beauty spot, although its use in America is not widely known. Further complicating the exact identification of this portrait is the fact that there is wide disparity in costume dates: the man's dress might have been in use anytime between 1750 and 1797 (except that for the later years he would have been somewhat out of style with a neckcloth and wrist ruffles). The woman and children, however, wear costumes more appropriate for the period 1795-1800.
ProvenanceIda H. Kellogg of Newburgh, N. Y., inherited the painting from her grandmother, a Mrs. Hasbrouck, whose mother is said to have acquired the portrait from a member of the Colden family. Frederick Fussenick, Torrington, Conn. J. Stuart Halladay and Herrel George Thomas, Sheffield Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson.