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Portrait of Sara Wellman [later, Mrs. William Homans](1801-1872)
No image number on slide

Portrait of Sara Wellman [later, Mrs. William Homans](1801-1872)

Date1802 (possibly)
Attributed to Michele Felice Cornè (ca. 1752-1845)
OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Salem
MediumOil on panel
DimensionsUnframed: 21 3/4 x 16 7/8in. (55.2 x 42.9cm) and Framed: 25 1/4 x 21 1/4in.
Credit LineGift of the John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, Fund, Inc., through the generosity and interest of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, and members of the family.
Object number1979.100.3
DescriptionA three-quarter-length portrait of a standing child. Her body is turned towards the viewer's right, her head and gaze to the viewer's left. She holds a pink rose in her raised, proper right hand and a flower basket by her side in the other. She wears an Empire-waisted gold-colored dress whose low neckline and short sleeves are trimmed with white lace. She has brown eyes; short, curly, light brown hair; and a heart-shaped face. The background is a neutral grayish blue.
Label TextThis winsome likeness has a sprightly, spontaneous quality seldom found in portraits of small children. According to a biographical label pasted to the back of the panel, Sara Wellman was painted when she was seventeen months old, but her long neck, sensitively modeled heart-shaped face, and thick wavy blond hair make the child appear older.
The quick, confident brushwork and sure treatment of color reflect the hand of an experienced artist. The portait is attributed to Michele Felice Corne on the basis of its stylistic relationship to signed and dated examples of his work that were painted in Salem between 1801 and 1804. The gracefully attentuated figure, overlarge limpid brown eyes, and slightly lumpy structuring of the face are characteristic of Corne, as are the delicate handling of the full-blown rose Sara carries and the lace trim on her simple gold dress.
Born in Salem April 15, 1801, Sara was the daughter of Timothy and Sally Wellman. She married William Homans of nearby Marblehead in 1828, and the couple had two children. Sara Wellman Homans died at Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1872.
InscribedA handwritten note taped to the reverse of the panel reads: "Sara Wellman aged 17 months, born at Salem, Massachusetts April 15, 1801 on Charles Street. Daughter of Timothy and Sally Wellman. Married at Salem, Massachusetts, William Homans of Marblehead, Massachusetts, August 24, 1828. Died at Lynn, Massachusetts, December 2, 1872. Aged 71 years, 7 months, 17 days. Buried at Lynn, Massachusetts, Pine Grove Cemetery. Mother of: George Wellman Homans and Sara Ellen Glover Macomber. Grandmother of: Susie Glover Macomber and Elsie Wallace Hunt. Great-grandmother of: Leontine Elsie Hunt."
ProvenancePurchased from Katrina Kipper, Accord, Mass., in January 1940 for use at Bassett Hall, the Williamsburg home of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr. Given to Colonial Williamsburg in 1979.