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Portrait 1958.100.36
Possibly Jane A. Fort Van Rensselaer (Mrs. Henry Peter Van Rensselaer)(1797-1869)
Portrait 1958.100.36

Possibly Jane A. Fort Van Rensselaer (Mrs. Henry Peter Van Rensselaer)(1797-1869)

Date1820-1825 (probably)
Attributed to Ammi Phillips (1788-1865)
OriginAmerica, New York, Claverack
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 29 7/8 x 23 3/4in. (75.9 x 60.3cm) and Framed: 34 1/2 x 28 3/8 x 2 3/4in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1958.100.36
DescriptionA half-length portrait of woman in a white dress, seated (although no chair or support is shown). Her body is turned 1/4 toward the viewer's left, her head slightly less turned, her eyes on the viewer. A red drapery, double-swagged and fringed, hangs vertically along the left side of the picture. Her hands are in her lap, holding a shawl around her shoulders, but only the top of her forward hand is visible. The shawl is medium to dark green with fringe and has a border of a meandering design in yellow, bound on either side by a red stripe. Above the border appear large red daisy-shaped flowers with yellow and green centers; interspersed among these are black leaves bordered in yellow, black stems/vines, and small orange flowers. The long sleeves of the dress are gathered in small puffs just below the shoulders; the empire dress is cut high, under the bustline, with a white bow trimmed in knotted edging just below the bustline. The neck is round and trimmed in a double, pleated, eyelet-trimmed collar. The woman's dark hair is parted in the middle, piled high on the back of her head, and held in place by a comb; in front of her ears, framing her face on either side, are wispy ringlets, held in place by a barrette halfway below the part. Her eyes are a nondescript color, blue that verges on light amber or grey. The background varies from grey to olive drab, an overall tone with no highlighting or backlighting of the sitter. The woman's eyebrows are very heavy and dark, her nose has a slight up-turn in the middle, and she has a peculiar, deeply-cleft chin.
The 2 1/2-inch gilt and gold-painted frame with bead molding along the inner lip is a modern replacement.
Label TextFemale sitters wear similar attire in many of Ammi Philips’s portraits created within the same time frame. Such repetition suited the speedy, self-assured, and highly-graphic style the artist began to develop in the 1820s, although the wording of an 1809 advertisement suggests that he touted aspects of the practice from the beginning. In that notice, he offered to show women in “elegant dresses in the prevailing fashion of the day,” seemingly claiming that, on canvas, he could embellish, update, or perhaps even totally replace the apparel his sitters wore if they so desired. The idea might have appealed to fashion-conscious females, but for Phillips, the primary allure was speed and, thus, profit.

Earlier owners of the portrait recorded the sitter’s name as "Mrs. H. B. Van Rensselaer of Kinderhook, 1820," but records reveal no woman with these initials. It is possible that "H. B." was confused for "H. P.” If this identification is correct then Jane was in her twenties when her portrait was completed, and by 1825 had five children.

InscribedSee "Notes," no. 1.
MarkingsNo original markings found. The painting's four, later-added cast iron stretcher keys are each marked "Patd./Feb. 13/1883/Jun.18/1885/A.D.S."
ProvenancePeter Van Rensselaer; Mrs. Cantine Trumper Van Rensselaer (Eveline Van Rensselaer); Van Rensselaer Trimper, Albany, NY; Charlotte Paddock, East Greenbush, 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 AARFAC's vendor.
N. B. Ownership by the two earliest individuals listed above is conjectural and is based on the sitter's probable identity, on the logical line of descent suggested by Florence Van Rensselaer, THE VAN RENSSELAERS IN HOLLAND AND IN AMERICA (NY, 1956), pp. 46, 47, and 65, and, most of all, on a presumed link between Eveline Van Rensselaer Trumper and Van Rensselaer Trimper ("Trumper" and "Trimper" seem too close to be coincidental). Eveline Van Rensselaer Trumper (b. 1859) was the suggested sitter's granddaughter, the third child of Jane and Henry Peter Van Rensselaer's first son, Peter (1818?-1904) and his wife, Ann Truax Van Rensselaer. The portrait's history prior to ownership by Halladay and Thomas has been provided through the efforts of Ruth Piwonka, who related Mrs. Paddock's memory of buying the portrait from Van Rensselaer Trimper and selling it to Halladay and Thomas (Piwonka to AARFAC, July 28, 1977).
Exhibition(s)