Portrait of Lucy Skelton Gilliam (Mrs. Robert Gilliam) (1743-1789)

Date1780

Artist John Durand (active 1760-1782)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Petersburg area

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 31 1/2 x 25 1/4 in. (80 x 64.1cm) and Framed: 35 1/2 x 29 7/8 in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase and partial gift, Estate of Mary Bragg Dodd

Object number2004-40,A

DescriptionA half-length portrait of a woman, head and body turned 3/4 to the left, eyes toward viewer. The subject has dark brown hair and gray eyes. She wears a gold silk gown with ivory-colored lace and large bows at neckline and elbows. A white cap with one lapet visible is positioned atop her high-piled hair. She holds an ivory fan on a diagonal, using both hands. Her jewelry includes a black ribbon choker, a mourning (?) pendant on a black cord, a multi-strand necklace of seed pearls, two rings with gemstones, and a pearl (?) hat pin. The dark brown background is relieved with a red drape and tassle at upper left.
The 3-inch frame is a mid-nineteenth-century replacement of a plain, splayed, stained wood molding with a plain gilt liner, possibly Spanish cedar veneer over white pine secondary wood. [Tentative wood identifications are based on a visual examination by Jon Prown].
Label TextThe sitter was the daughter of James Skelton of Essex County, VA and later of Elk Island, Goochland County, VA and Jane Meriwether Skelton of Hanover County, VA. In 1760, Lucy married Robert Gilliam (1740-1793) of Prince George County, Virginia. The Skelton’s and Meriwether’s were descendants of the distinguished families in England. As compared to the aristocratic plantation owners north of the James River, the Gilliam’s had more modest means as did many of John Durand’s customers in Virginia and Connecticut. While Gilliam’s ancestors likely arrived in Virginia as indentured servants early in the 17th century, by 1704 his great grandfather, Robert Gilliam (1663-1738), had patented 2,804 acres at Monte Alto where Lucy and her husband resided. Monte Alto was built by John Gilliam (1614-1671) who arrived in Virginia in 1635. Gilliam’s occupied Monte Alto in Prince George County until 1919.

The pose, including the closed fan, is typical of eighteenth-century women’s portraiture. It was used by several artists in the colonies from about 1755–1785. Over the course of nearly twenty years, Durand improved his technique, including his rendering of fabrics and modeling of faces.
InscribedOn the reverse of the original canvas, still visible through the new lining fabric, in block-style letters in black paint, is: "Lucy Gilliam/ aged 37 AD. 1780./J. Durand Pinxit."
ProvenanceIn her letter of June 6, 1999, Mary Bragg Dodd stated that Lucy's portrait (along with other Durand portraits representing John Gilliam, Robert Gilliam, and Meriwether Skelton) had once belonged to her grandfather [name not given]. These portraits were inherited by her grandfather's oldest son, "Robert Gilliam, once Mayor of Petersburg, Va." [N. B. In 1929, the four portraits were published as belonging to Robert Gilliam III of Petersburg, Va. (See Richard D. Gilliam, "Skelton and Shelton: Two Distinct Virginia Families" in WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY, Series 2, Vol. 9, no. 3 (July 1929), p. 215)].
In her letter of June 6, 1999, Dodd further stated that the four portraits were [later] inherited by her uncle, Herbert Gilliam, who allowed Dodd to take one of her choice. Dodd chose that of Meriwether Skelton, leaving that of John Gilliam for Herbert Gilliam's daughter [name not given; in a letter of July 16, 1999, however, Dodd stated that Herbert Gilliam's daughter "never received it"; this portrait's whereabouts remain unknown]. In her letter of June 6, 1999, Dodd wrote that the portrait of Robert Gilliam "was given to the only living descendant -- Robert Gilliam who lives in New York." [Evidently Dodd meant the only living descendant bearing the Gilliam name]. Dodd does not say who received the portrait of Lucy, only that she [Dodd] "rescued it from my cousin's attic in Lexington, Mass."
In 2020, CWF was contacted by a descendent who wrote that the portrait of John Gilliam, Jr. (1761-1823) was sold in 1929 by Robert Skelton Gilliam (1890-1968) to his first cousin Robert Gilliam III (1881-1955) to fund Robert Skelton Gilliam, Jr.’s (1913-1985) tuition at VMI. In 1940, Francis Meriwether Gilliam (1899-1984) purchased the portrait of John Gilliam, Jr. (1761-1823) from his first cousin on 7/12/1940 and gave it to Robert Skelton Gilliam, Jr. (who lived in Nyack, NY from 1949 until 1978 when he returned to Virginia) as a wedding present on 7/15/1940 with the stipulation that it remain in the family. The portrait of John Gilliam, Jr. currently belongs to his son, Robert Skelton Gilliam III, who resides in Virginia. Herbert Gilliam was Robert Gilliam III’s (1881-1955) brother and witnessed the well documented sale to Francis Gilliam in 1940. No prior or more precise history has been recorded as of 3/29/2020.

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