Images(2)

Portrait of Anna Catherine Maria Keener Yeiser (Mrs. Engelhardt Yeiser)(1754-1820)

DateProbably 1800-1803

Attributed to James Martin (fl. 1794 - 1820)

Possibly by David Swope (1771 - 1845)

OriginAmerica, Maryland, Baltimore

MediumPastel on laid paper adhered to canvas

DimensionsStrainers: 24 9/16 x 18 1/2in. (62.4 x 47cm) and Framed: 25 13/16 x 19 3/4 x 1 3/8in.

Credit LinePartial gift of Linda C. Simmons

Object number2009.200.2

DescriptionA half-length portrait of a woman turned three-quarters to the left, her proper left arm bent with her hand raised chest-high and holding a piece of paper inscribed with mock-lettering. Her other arm extends downwards and its hand is not visible in the composition. She wears a high-crowned sheer white bonnet circled by a maroon-colored ribbon. Her long-sleeved orange-colored dress is very high-waisted and cinched below the bust with a white ribbon or tape. It has a a gathered neckline and a high, white, sheer collar. She wear two strands of dark beads (two other strands above these appear to have been obliterated by the artist in a correction). She has blue eyes and short wisps of dark blonde or light brown hair stick out from beneath her bonnet. The background is a blue sky studded with clouds.

Original 1 3/8-inch black-painted, molded, cyma recta frame with a quarter-round gilded liner.
Label TextOral family histories usually contain grains of truth but are seldom accurate in every detail. An inscription on the back of this portrait, added in the twentieth century, named David Swope as the artist. It is not clear what prompted the claim, but no works solidly identified as Swope's have been found and, stylistically, the portrait of Anna Catherine Maria Keener Yesier and that of her husband, Engelhardt Yeiser, seem attributable to the relatively obscure James Martin.

In 1795, Martin advertised in New Jersey that he was "from New York, late of Fleet Street, London." Although engraver David Edwin described Martin as a "great portrait painter" who was "overwhelmed with business," either Martin's work has not survived well or much of it has been misattributed to others. Ascription of the Yeisers is based on their similarity to four portraits of members of the Noyes family of Guildford and Lyme, Connecticut, one of which is partially inscribed "Martin portrait painter." However, allusions to David Swope as an artist exist. Examples of his work need to be found and compared with the Yeiser portraits.

Between 1796 and 1804, Baltimore city directories list Engelhardt Yeiser as a merchant or, more specifically, a wine merchant. He and Anna Catherine Maria Keener married 20 August 1773. Portraits of other family members that are now unlocated (and are thought to be by the same artist) include one of a daughter, Magdalene Yeiser (b. ca. 1783) and a brother and sister-in-law of Anna Catherine Maria's, Andrew and Fredericka Amelung Keener.
InscribedNo original inscriptions have been noted. On the back of the lightweight woven canvas dust cover, in black paint, in forward-slanting script, is: "Anna Catherine Maria Keener,/wife of Engelhardt Yeiser of/Baltimore. Married, 1773./(Painted by David Swope./Her Father, Melchoir Keener was/founder of 'The Ancient & Honorable/Mechanical Society' of Baltimore/(now America's oldest Civic Organization."
Oriented perpendicular to the preceding in blue ballpoint pen in script in smaller lettering is: "Anna Catherine Maria (Keener) Yeiser/Daughter of Melchoir Keener -- first millionaire in/Baltimore & founder of the 'Ancient & Honorable/Mechanical Society'/Wife of Engelhardt Yeiser".
MarkingsNo clearly distinguishable watermarks were found in the paper but see "Marks" for the companion portrait.
ProvenanceDescended in the sitter's family to Mrs. Melvin Lee Steadman, Jr. (maiden name unknown) of Virginia Beach, Va., as of November 24, 1973; sold at auction (C. G. Sloan & Co., Inc., of Washington, D. C. and Baltimore, Md.) October 1-3 [year uncertain; possibly 1977], catalogue lot no. 1585; purchased at preceding auction by Robert and Linda Simmons of Arlington, Va.; the latter was CWF's source.