Portrait of Lydia Bessom

Dateca. 1845

Attributed to William Thompson Bartoll (1817 - 1859)

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Marblehead (probably)

MediumOil on Canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 12 x 9 1/4in. (30.5 x 23.5cm) and Framed: 16 1/2 x 13 1/2in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1937.100.5

DescriptionOil portrait of young girl half-length, facing forward and seated in a mahogany side chair. The solid background is green. The sitter shows a pouting expression, ivory complexion, green eyes, and brown hair, parted in center and fixed in elaborate braids wound over her ears. She wears dangling pierced earings, and a cameo at the neck. The black cord necklace extends below her waist and has a gold heart slide, and the end is attached to a gold pencil. The dress is royal blue with four V-like pleats down the front, long sleeves which bell slightly at the wrists to reveal white under sleeves. Tiny white round collar visible at neck. She is seated upright with her tiny hands neatly folded on her lap.
Label TextThe picture's smallsize heightens the precise quality of its details, and its overall sophistication indicates that by the mid-1840s William Bartoll had mastered many of the difficult techniques associated with high-style portraiture.
ProvenancePurchased from Bessie J. Howard by Mrs. Rockefeller. Given to C. W. by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.