Portrait of Oliver Wells Bushnell (1805-1892)

Dateca. 1849

Attributed to James Sanford Ellsworth (1803-1875)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, West Hartland (probably)

MediumWatercolor on wove paper, framed

DimensionsPrimary support: 3 1/4 x 2 9/16in. (8.3 x 6.5cm) and Framed: 4 1/4 x 3 1/2in.

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Ann Bushnell Brown

Object number1980.300.1

DescriptionHalf-length profile portait of a seated man facing left. He wears a dark blue coat shaded with dark, brownish-black, a white shirt, and dark blue cravat knotted at the neck. His hair is parted on the near side and cut in a bob just aobve the ear lobe. He has heavy-lidded blue eyes and heavy, very dark gray eyebrows. In the background, behind his head, a gray cloverleaf-shaped cloud or nimbus helps define his head. His arms hang fown and his hands are not visible, seemingly lost in the curves of the dark blue upholstered, red grain-painted arm chair in which he sits.
The frame is a modern one, a 5/8-inch flat mahogany frame with mahogany-veneered face and with a circular brass hanger at the center top.
Label TextJames Sanford Ellsworth's miniature portrait of Oliver Wells Bushnell typifies the half-length profiles for which the artist is best known. It also includes the most popular of six variations of an abbreviated, curvilinear, stylized chair used by Ellsworth in his small-scale work. Differing colors of chair frames and upholstery helped diversify his images and individualize them. Color may also have been a factor in persuading Bushnell to invest in a painted portrait instead of a photograph. Coloring was uncommon at this early date in the history of photography; when done, it was limited to relatively pale, hand-applied washes.
The museum also owns Ellsworth miniatures of Oliver Wells Bushnell's wife, Almira Marks Bushnell (?-1887), and their three children, James Augustus Bushnell (1829-1897), Richard Oliver Bushnell (1836-?), and Rose Ann Bushnell (ca. 1847-?). The entire group descended through the family of James Augustus Bushnell to his great-granddaughter, who donated them to the Folk Art Museum.

ProvenanceThis miniature descended, along with 1981.300.1, 1982.300.1, 1983.300.1, and 1984.300.1, from James Augustus Bushnell (subject of 1982.300.1), through his family to Mrs. Fred Forbes Bushnell of Manchester, Conn., thence to AARFAM's donor, Mrs. Ann Bushnell Brown, great-granddaughter of James Augustus Bushnell.