Portrait of Margaret Welling Lenox (Mrs. Peter Lenox) with Her Son, Walter

Dateca. 1820

Artist/Maker Charles Bird King (1785-1862)

OriginAmerica, District of Columbia, Washington

MediumOil on canvas mounted on masonite

DimensionsOther (unframed): 37 x 28in. (94 x 71.1cm) Framed (approx.): 44 13/16 x 36 7/8 x 2 5/8in. (113.8 x 93.7 x 6.7cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1994-130,A&B

DescriptionA half-length portrait of a mother and son. The woman wears a dark dress with long sleeves that are slighly puffed below the shoulder, a square-cut neckline trimmed in a ruffle of sheer white lace, a white turban, and a choker necklace. She sits at the end of a red upholstered sofa and steadies her toddler on its arm. The small boy is clothed in white and has curly blonde hair; he raises his proper right arm to his head and, in that hand, he holds a straw or reed rattle. His proper left hand rests on his mother's shoulder. The background is very dark and relatively uniform.

The frame is original to the painting.
Label TextPeter Lenox, son of a Williamsburg wigmaker and barber, had a hand in the most iconic buildings in our nation’s capital: the White House and the Capitol. Drawing on associations likely made during apprenticeships with two Richmond, Virginia, joiners, he eventually secured federal appointments as carpenter and builder. This portrait by Charles Bird King displays some of the drawing instruments Lenox used in his work. His son Walter, pictured with Mrs. Lenox, became the thirteenth mayor of Washington, D. C., later presiding at the laying of the cornerstone for the extention of the U.S. Capitol.

A sizable inheritance enabled Rhode Island native King to apprentice in New York with artist Edward Savage before traveling to London to study with expatriate artist Benjamin West. King returned to the United States in 1812, settling in Philadelphia. After a period of itinerancy, he moved to Washington, where he painted these portraits of Peter Lenox and his wife, Margaret Welling Lenox. In addition to genre and history painting, King is best known today for a series of 143 portraits of Native Americans painted between 1821 and 1842.

ProvenanceBy descent in the family until 1994, when purchased by Randle W. Batley and James O'Connell, antiques dealers of San Diego, California.

The information they provided included photographes of each painting with inscriptions on the backs written by Lucy Lenox Edmondson both dated September 12, 1993.

The reverse of the photo of Peter read: "This is a painting of Peter Lenox. He is the brother of the last white mayor of Washinton D.C. I am his cousin Lucy Lenox Edmondson. This painting was done by Charles Bird King."

The reverse of the photo of Margaret and Walter read: "This is the painting of the wife and son of Peter Leno. He is a cousin of mine."

Exhibition(s)