Margaret Patten

Date1737

Engraver John Cooper

After work by John Cooper

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint engraving on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 13 × 9 1/8in. (33 × 23.2cm) Other (Plate): 12 7/8 × 8 7/8in. (32.7 × 22.5cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1979-312

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "Margaret Patten/ Born in the Parish of Loghnugh near Pairsley in Scotland now/ Liveing in the work House of S.t Marg.ts Westminster Aged 136./ Anno 1737./ I. Cooper ad vivum Pinx.t et fecit."
Label TextMargaret Patten (Paton) was alleged to have lived to the age of 136 or 138, depending on the account. At the time her portrait was painted, in 1737, she was living at the St. Margaret's workhouse in Westminster, London. She was painted at the request of officers of the Parish who commissioned the portrait to hang in the workhouse. It's likely that her true age was exaggerated. At the time there were accounts supposing that she had been brought to England to prepare scotch broth for King James II or that she married a dragoon in her late 80s who brought her to England where he died leaving her in poverty. Her longevity was credited to a healthy lifestyle. Period descriptions state that she walked regularly, was very hearty and that she only consumed milk.
ProvenanceBefore 1979, The Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1979-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).