Portrait of Miss Dandridge, possibly Frances Dandridge (1744-1758)
Dateca. 1757
Artist/Maker
John Wollaston (ca. 1710-ca. 1767)
OriginAmerica, Virginia
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 30 x 25in. (76.2 x 63.5cm) and Framed: 35 1/2 x 30 1/2 x 1 7/8in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1975-125,A&C
DescriptionHalf length portrait of a young girl holding three apples in the folds of her skirt. Her left hand lies on top of the apples and her right hand positions her skirt to keep them from falling. She wears a green satin gown with white lacy ruffles on bodice and sleeves, and a bow adorns the upper edge of her bodice.Label TextFrances Dandridge was the daughter of John Dandridge, Jr. and Frances Jones Dandridge. The couple and their eight children lived at Chestnut Grove, a plantation on the Pamunkey River in nearby New Kent County. Their eldest child, Martha, sat for artist John Wollaston in 1757. Frances was then about 12 years old and was likely painted at the same time. She died the next year.
John Wollaston arrived in America from England in 1749 and worked extensively from New York to South Carolina. Likely the first studio-trained artist to paint in the southern colonies, he completed over 100 likenesses of the Virginia gentry.
ProvenanceMrs. Gideon Granger (Mindwell Pease) (1770-1860) of Canandaigua, NY to her granddaughter Cornelia (Adele) Granger Thayer Winthrop (1819/1820-1892) of Brookline, MA; to her daughter Adelaide (Adele) Granger Thayer (b. 1857) of Brookline, MA; to Milch Gallery of New York City; to Knoedler Galleries of New York City; to Mr. & Mrs. Sidney A. Kirkman of New York City; to Albert Lyman Gustin Jr. of Kansas City, MO; to Richard Bourne Co. Auction House of Hyannis, MA; to Dr. Frederick D. Gillespie of Parkersburg, WV who sold the portrait to Colonial Williamsburg.
1770-1771 (probably)
1775
Probably 1827-1830
ca. 1745
