Possibly Joseph E. Johnson

Dateca. 1850

OriginAmerica, Maryland, Havre de Grace (possibly)

MediumOil on academy board

DimensionsUnframed: 14 1/8 x 10 1/2in. (35.9 x 26.7cm) and Framed: 15 1/8 x 11 13/16in.

Credit LineGift of Miss Mary Ethel Lynch

Object number1978.100.1

DescriptionHead-on, waist-length portrait of a small boy holding a whip in raised left (viewers left) hand. His other arm hangs down in lap and hand is not visible. He wears a fashionable, off-the-shoulder dress, cut straight across low over the chest and shoulders. The dress is red with black border across the top and decorated with tear-shaped back dots over the red. The sleeves are gathered together over each outer upper arm and held by a pair of sleeve bracelets which consist of red flower-type designs at either end, linked in the middle by gold-colored, probably metal, design. The whip is black with yellow dots on it and has a gray, white-banded bordered as a hand-grip. The butt tip is gray, the thong brown (rawhide), and the whip itself tapers. The boy has medium -brown curly hair, parted on both sides so that a top knot of curls sticks up. His eyes are dark blue, his lips are rather garishly pink, His cheeks are also quite pink. His face is very chubby, has a delineated with rather skillful shading, a little double chin. The indentation of his upper lip is quite pronounced. the background of the picture is matte black. Modern replacement 1-inch cyma recta frame, painted flat black.
Label TextThere is great variance in Prior's painting style, which apparently relates to the price his clients were willing to pay. In Prior's own words, "Persons wishing for a flat picture can have a likeness, without shade or shadow at one quarter price." Hastily painted on cardboard, with only a suggestion of modeling, this little boy's portrait probably cost his father five dollars.

The previous owner's identification of this subject as Joseph E. Johnson of Havre de Grace, Maryland, has not been verified. Although William M. Prior and William W. Kennedy are known to have worked in nearby Baltimore, the portrait does not bear the distingu¬ishing characteristics of either artist. The extent of travel southward from New England by other artists in the Prior-style group — Sturtevant J. Hamblin or his brothers, for instance— has not been documented to date.
Condition: In 1978 E. Hollyday
MarkingsNone found
ProvenanceGift of Miss Mary Ethel Lynch