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DS1992-0580
Portrait of Evelyn Byrd (1707-1737)
DS1992-0580

Portrait of Evelyn Byrd (1707-1737)

Date1725-1726 (probably)
OriginEngland, London
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 50 3/16 x 40 3/8in. (127.5 x 102.6cm) and Framed: 57 1/16 x 47 1/8 x 2 1/4in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1941-76,A&B
DescriptionA three-quarter length portrait of a young woman, seated, nearly full-face, her head turned slightly towards the viewer's left. She has brown eyes. Her brown hair is parted in the middle and turned back from her face, with a nosegay of red and blue flowers tucked into the proper left side and one long curl falling over her proper right shoulder. Her eyes are slightly almond shaped and slant upwards at the outer corners. She has a rosy complextion. She wears a low-cut satin dress with a fitted bodice slit down the front, showing her white, ruffled, muslin shift beneath. White ruffles protrude from under the three-quarter length sleeves of her dress, which is a pale blue. In her lap, she holds a flat-crowned, flat-brimmed chip straw hat trimmed with a wreath of red and yellow flowers and white ribbon. She also holds across her lap a long staff, perhaps a shepherd's crook. Behind her is a lush landscape including trees and a body of water. A red bird, perhaps a cardinal, perches on a branch at upper left in the composition. The sky is depicted as though at sunset or sunrise.

The 3 3/4-inch frame is probably not original. The rabbet is routed out; this may have been done to accommodate the post-conservation dimensions of the canvas, which was given aluminum lip-over molding in its treatment. However, marked lightening of the pigments over all but the outer edges of the canvas (believed to be the result of fading) suggests that the picture was formerly, for an extended period of time, in a different frame, one that covered slightly more of the canvas. The present black-painted bolection molding incorporates gilded (now over-painted) leaf-and-dart carving along both the sight and outer edges.
Label TextEvelyn Byrd was the daughter of William Byrd II and Lucy Parke Byrd of Westover plantation on the nearby James River. She was educated in England, where this portrait was painted shortly before her return to Virginia in 1726. It hung at Westover—along with those of her father's friends, various dignitaries, and other family members—for nearly a century.

Supporting the picture's idyllic theme, Evelyn holds a straw hat and a shepherd's crook. Many contemporary English portraits were similarly composed. The setting was meant to convey the simplicity and romance of rustic life, an unrealistic view then shared by many of the wealthy.

ProvenanceFrom William Byrd II (1674-1744) to his son, William Byrd III (1728-1777); to his wife, Mrs. William Byrd III (Mary Willing)(1740-1814); to her daughter, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison (Evelyn Taylor Byrd)(1766-1817); to her son, George Evelyn Harrison (1797-1839); to his son, George Evelyn Harrison, Jr. (1837-1880); to his daughter, Mrs. Stephen Decatur Mayo (Isabella Ritchie Harrison)(1873-1962), who was CWF's source.




Exhibition(s)