Portrait of The Ege-Galt Family

Date1801-1803

Attributed to William Hodgson (1748-1806)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Richmond (probably)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 34 3/8" x 41 1/4" and Framed: 35 3/4" x 43 1/2"

Credit LineGift of Mrs. V. Lee Kirby

Object number1976.100.1

DescriptionA group portrait of four people shown three-quarter-length. At the center, a young woman, seated, holds a child on her lap. To either side of her stand older women. The young woman wears a pearl necklace with a low-necked, high-waisted, short-sleeved, white dress, and her dark hair is piled up top of her head. The child wears a similar dress and holds a black and yellow bird in his proper R hand. The older woman to the viewer's far R wears a black dress with a white fichu, a black ribbon around her throat, and a white bonnet with a black bow at center front. The older woman to the viewer's far L wears a black dress with a white fichu and a white bonnet with a black ribbon encircling it; she holds a book in her proper R hand.
Label TextGroups presented an artist with far more challenges than a solitary sitter. Here, by extending, linking, and crossing his subjects' arms and overlapping their bodies, the painter not only created a visually arresting composition but also captured a sense of unity and affection. The crossed and pinned neckerchiefs of the older woman echo the diagonals of the foursome's arms.

All the subjects resided in Richmond, Virginia, when this portrait was created, Maria Dorothea Scherer Ege (1724-1803) stands at the left; her daughter, Elizabeth Ege Galt (1748-1822), at the right. Elizabeth's daughter, Elizabeth Galt Williamson (1779- 1807), seated in the center, holds her young son, Frederick (1801-1803). Soon after the original portrait was completed, another, more accomplished artist repainted Elizabeth Williamson's face and neck, as discerned in the altered modeling and definition of these features.
MarkingsNone found
ProvenanceThe painting descended in the Galt family to Mrs. Virginius Lee Kirby (Mary Ware Galt)(1893-1977) of Williamsburg, Virginia. The exact line of descent is not documented.