Orr House Overmantel Painting

DateBefore 1781

MediumOil on yellow pine panel

DimensionsUnframed: 40 x 58in. (101.6 x 147.3cm) and Framed: 51 1/4 x 69 1/4in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1986-262

DescriptionLandscape with castle. Ghost of former building apparent in sky indicative of artist change. Building perched high upon a rock on left of composition with rocky coastline and boats in distance. Several figures in foreground reminscent of 18th or early 19th century prints. Bold cream color block along bottom margin. Composition in two pieces. Reproduction of mantel surround constructed by CWF furniture conservation labs in Fall 2021.
Label TextThis rare landscape scene that was originally installed in the 18th-century Catherine Orr House is the only surviving evidence of a scenic overmantel in Williamsburg in the 18th century. In trying to date the painting, newly undertaken architectural investigations uncovered new evidence concerning the previously-believed c. 1789 date of the house. Surprisingly, the earliest section of the building could date as early as the 1710s, making it the oldest domestic structure that survives on Duke of Gloucester Street.
The painting raises a lot of questions about when it was painted, who might have painted it, and who commissioned it. Close examination by Colonial Williamsburg painting conservators found disrupted paint layers at the edges of the painting, the result of installation in original framing over the mantel that disturbed the still-wet paint. This evidence supports the overmantel was most likely painted in or around Williamsburg, relatively close to the time it was installed.
Due to an attempt to clean the painting sometime before it came into the museum collection, changes to the castle and landscape are visible. It is evident that the 18th-century painter realized that the original scaling was off and made changes while the paint was still wet. Very noticeable drying cracks, particularly around the castle, were caused by the area being immediately overpainted before the earlier paint had dried.
Exhibiting this overmantel painting helps demonstrate everything that goes into the restoration process here at Colonial Williamsburg. Whether it is a rare painted object or original building, we constantly perform appropriate analytical and conservation work, undertake extensive documentary research and physical investigations, and update the historical records and physical appearances of our buildings and any objects related to them.
ProvenanceRemoved from George Reid House, 210 E Duke of Gloucester Street, Williamsburg in 1986.