Portrait of Sarah Holt Wiggin (ca. 1758-1824)

Date1813

Artist Benjamin Greenleaf (1786 - 1864)

MediumOil on glass; the frame is painted white pine

DimensionsUnframed: 14 7/8 x 11in. (37.8 x 27.9cm) and Framed: 16 5/8 x 12 1/2in.

Credit LineGift of Arthur B. and Sybil B. Kern

Object number1984.500.1

DescriptionA bust-length profile portrait of a middle-aged woman facing right. She has dark brown hair, barely visible beneath a frilled lace cap with bow on top. A sheer white frilled collar covers her neck and is covered at the neck of her dress by a smaller, gathered ruffle of her grey dress fabric. She has dark brown eyes, and the background is black.
The 7/8-inch brown-painted molded frame is original; it has a flat outer surface decorated with a half round molding. The center of the top frame member has been pierced and retains remnants of a string or rope hanger. The frame retains its original backboard, which is partly painted with the same shade of medium gray as used for the subject's dress. Daubs of the black and gray used in the painting appear on several inner surfaces of the frame.
Label TextThis bust-length profile likeness of Sarah Holt Wiggin is a fine example of the fluid and competent style of Benjamin Greenleaf, an itinerant portraitist known to have worked in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. A study of his several dozen portrait subjects reveals an interesting network of family ties and suggests that he relied on word-of-mouth recommendations rather than newspaper advertisements to secure his commissions.
Greenleaf's two earliest paintings were executed on canvas in 1803 and 1804. Thereafter, however, he worked almost exclusively on glass, a medium demanding specialized techniques. Because pigments are applied to the back of the glass, highlights must be laid down first, reversing the canvas painter's usual order of application and heightening the difficulty of making corrections. Typically, Greenleaf's portraits on glass incorporate high contrast, as illustrated by his reliance on black and white in Mrs. Wiggin's likeness.

InscribedIn pencil in script over the upper section of the backboard is, "Mrs Sarah Wiggin---/AE 55/Painted by Benjamin Greenleaf/October 4 1813". Printed in ink in a modern hand to the right of the preceding is, "Mrs Sarah Wiggin/Age 55/Painted by/Benj Greenleaf/Oct 1813." In green paint below both preceding inscriptions is, "McL". An "X" in black paint appears at the top, extending up onto the upper frame edge.
ProvenanceOwnership prior to the Kerns (see "Donor") is unknown.