Baby in Rose Dress

DateProbably 1850-1855

Attributed to William W. Kennedy (1818-1885)

OriginAmerica, Maryland, Baltimore (probably)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 27 x 23 1/8in. (68.6 x 58.7cm) and Framed: 31 7/16 x 27 1/2in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1931.100.7

DescriptionA full-length portrait of a child seated on a green-upholstered, balloon-backed chair. The child's legs are stuck out in front, the proper left arm bent at the elbow and raised above waist level; this hand has two rings on the fourth finger. The child wears an off-the-shoulder, long-waisted, rose-colored dress whose short, white-trimmed sleeves are gathered and clasped with sleeve bracelets. The child's brown hair is parted in the middle, and the eyes are blue. Around the child's neck is a three strand coral necklace with a circular clasp. White stockings and black shoes, laced at the instep, complete the ensemble. The background is brown.
The 2 1/2-inch cove-molded gilded frame with a quarter round outer edge is a modern replacement.

Label TextLimp, splayed legs and chubby, shapeless arms suggest that the subject was two to four years of age. Pink and blue did not signify children's sexes during this period, but a proliferation of jewelry and, especially, a center hair part identify the toddler as a girl. The segments of her necklace may have been pieces of red and white coral, a material widely used for children's adornments and accessories through much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The youngster's rose-colored dress contrasts nicely with the dark green upholstery of her balloon-backed side chair.

William Kennedy's style of painting shares similarities with that of William Matthew Prior and, indeed, at one time in Baltimore, the two worked only a few doors apart. Kennedy tended to exaggerate the shading around sitters' noses, which might explain the feature's red, bulbous appearance in this likeness.

ProvenanceFound in Baltimore, Md., by Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; purchased from Halpert by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller 22 May 1931 and given to CWF in 1939.

Exhibition(s)