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Portrait of Clarissa Partridge Ide Childs (Mrs. Asa Childs)(1775-1849)
No image number on slide

Portrait of Clarissa Partridge Ide Childs (Mrs. Asa Childs)(1775-1849)

Dateca. 1808
Attributed to James Brown (fl. 1803 - 1808)
OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Medway (probably)
MediumOil on linen canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 27 1/4" x 23 1/2" and Framed: 31" x 27"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1958.100.1
DescriptionA half-length portrait of a woman turned a quarter to the viewer's right and set within feigned spandrels with a warm brown background. She wears a high-waisted white dress whose low neckline is filled with sheer white embroidered fabric rising to terminating at the throat in a stand-up collar. At her throat, she wears a small round brooch with a faceted, clear or pale blue stone set in gold. Her sleeves are short and tucked, with lace trimming. She is shown sewing a piece of lace with a thimble on the middle finger of her proper right hand. On the forefinger of that hand she wears a ring with indistinct lettering. She wears a sheer lace cap with a blue ribbon tied in a bow below her proper left ear. She has brown bangs crimped in tight curls and blue-green eyes.

The 2-inch cove-molded gilded frame with beading along the inner and outer edges is believed to be a period replacement.
Label TextThe portrait is attributed to James Brown on the basis of its similarity to others that are signed "J. Brown," especially those of Erastus and Williams Emmons of Medway, Massachusetts, which was Clarissa Partridge's birthplace. Clarissa and Gregory Ide were married in 1795, but Gregory died only three years later. In 1799, Clarissa married Asa Childs of Upton, Massachusetts. In 1813, the Childses moved to Pittsburgh, where Asa was involved in the shoe trade. Clarissa died in Pittsburgh on 4 November 1849.
ProvenanceRockwell Gardiner, Richfield, NY; J. Stuart Halladay and Herrel George Thomas, Sheffield, Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson, who was AARFAM's vendor.