Portrait of Almira Marks Bushnell (Mrs. Oliver Wells Bushnell)(?-1887)

Dateca. 1849

Attributed to James Sanford Ellsworth (1803-1875)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, West Hartland (probably)

MediumWatercolor on wove paper, framed

DimensionsPrimary support: 3 5/16 x 2 1/2in. (8.4 x 6.4cm) and Framed: 4 1/4 x 3 1/2in.

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Ann Bushnell Brown

Object number1981.300.1

DescriptionHalf-length profile portrait of a seated woman facing right. She has dark black hair covered by a white lace cap tied under her chin. Her dark lavender dress has a white ruffled collar, white trim on the sleeve, and what appears to be a blue and white checked tie fastened by a brooch at the chest. Two gold chains are around her neck and dangle down to her waist. She sits in a dark blue upholstered arm chair with rolled arms and grain-painted or simulated mahogany frame. Her dress at bottom is cut off in a vague crescent-shape of gray wash continued into the curl of the chair arms. The painting of the chair does not extend down to the lower margin. Behind the chair, another vague wash of gray watercolor fills the lower left corner of the sheet and offers additional implausible termination of the composition. A gray wash lobe-shaped nimbus behind the sitter's head (darker in front than in back) helps define her features.
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 Almira Marks 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 Almira Marks Bushnell's husband, Oliver Wells Bushnell (1805-1892), 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 1980.300.1, 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.