Portrait of Jane Bottomly

Dateca. 1830

Attributed to W. Grieve (active ca. 1823)

MediumWatercolor and pencil on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Support: 6 x 7 7/8in. (15.2 x 20cm) and Framed: 7 13/16 x 9 15/16in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.300.22

DescriptionA full-length portrait of young girl depicted full-face turned slightly to left. She wears a red and white plaid dress shaded in pale blue; it has a high waist and long sleeves. She wears blue shoes and a strand of yellow beads around her neck. She has blue eyes and blond hair, her hair drawn into a knot on the back of her head and held in place with a large tortoiseshell comb. She holds on her out-stretched left hand an uncolored rose drawn in pencil with green/yellow leaves. Two stylized and oversized roses outlined in pale pink with large light blue shaded leaves are positioned on either side of her. Below the figure is an inscription panel in the form of a ribbon or banner with scrolled ends.
The 1 1/8-inch reed-molded cherry frame is possibly original.
Label TextThis miniature portrait and its companion, a likeness of Frank Bottomly (accession no. 1958.300.21), may have been executed in conjunction with a Bottomly family record by the same artist, although the family record does not include Frank and Jane among the several children born to Samuel and Sarah Livermore Bottomly. The surmise is that Frank and Jane were children in a different, but closely related, branch of the family. Their portraits were executed on paper made in Worcester, Massachusetts, which was also where Samuel and Sarah Bottomly lived.
The two children's portraits and the family record are unsigned and are attributed to W. Grieve on the basis of their stylistic similarity to a double portrait in a private collection that is so inscribed (and dated 1823). The loose, sketchy quality and economy of brushwork evident in Grieve's work indicate that the artist was at ease with his materials and confident of his drawing ability.

InscribedIn red and black watercolor letters in a penciled swag at the bottom center of the primary support is "JANE BOTTOMLY./AGED 5. YEARS." Penciled outlines for some of these painted letters are visible behind and beside them.
MarkingsA watermark in the primary support reads "E BURBANK," signifying Elijah Burbank of Worcester, Mass., active ca. 1811-1834.
ProvenanceJ. 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, who was AARFAM's vendor.