Child with Cat

Dateca. 1790

Attributed to The Beardsley Limner (active 1785-1805)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut or Massachusetts

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 20 3/8 x 17 1/2in. (51.8 x 44.5cm) and Framed: 23 3/4 x 21in.

Credit LineGift of the John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, Fund, Inc., through the generosity and interest of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, and members of the family

Object number1979.100.1

DescriptionA small child in a pink dress sits on the floor, holding a cat in her (his?) lap. The dress has elbow-length sleeves, a white sash, and a square neckline trimmed with a white ruffle. The child also wears a single-strand necklace of gold beads and red shoes. The child has dark brown hair cut short, with bangs. A dark green drape fills the upper left corner of the composition. The cat is a dark brown-and-black-striped tabby that stares intently at the viewer. The background is a greenish-brown.

The 2-inch, splayed, gilded frame has half-round moldings and is a mid-nineteenth-century replacement.
Label TextThis engaging likeness is attributed to the Beardsley Limner on the basis of style. The techniques with which the painting was executed and details of the child's attire indicate that it is an early example of the artist's work. The small seated figure is compressed onto the picture plane with a shadowless olive brown ground immediately behind and a swag of fringed green drapery filling the void in the upper left corner. The artist's lack of understanding of foreshortening and anatomy is evident in the positioning of the girl's arms and in the rendering of her overlarge head with its flat, unmodeled features.

Each element in the tight composition is painted with equal care. Fabric folds are highlighted with broad unblended streaks of thinly applied paint creating decorative surface patterns. But the large-eared tabby cat is more convincingly drawn and competes with the child's solemn face for the viewer's attention.
ProvenanceFound in Connecticut by Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; purchased 18 November 1938 by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller for use at Bassett Hall, the Rockefellers' Williamsburg home; given to CW in 1979.