Images(4)

Portraits of Colonel William Edmonds (1734-1816) and Elizabeth Blackwell Edmonds (1741-1817)

Date1810

Artist William Joseph Aldridge (1751 - after 1813)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Fauquier County

MediumCharcoal, red crayon, and graphite on laid paper

DimensionsSight: 24 7/16 x 18in. (62.1 x 45.7cm) and Framed: 29 1/2 x 22 15/16in.

Credit LineGift of the Chilton Hornor McDonnell Family

Object number2007.200.1,A&C

DescriptionTwo bust-length portrait sketches, one of an elderly man and one of an elderly woman, one on each side of the same sheet of paper, their hands not shown. Each is basically a line drawing, with almost no hatching or shading. The male image shows a man turned 1/4 to the left and having thin hair and sunken cheeks, his down-turned mouth suggesting the loss of many teeth. He wears a buttoned-up waistcoat and open coat over a shirt and neckcloth.
The female portrait is similarly linear and shows a woman turned 1/4 to the right. Although the heads of both images are about equally vertically spaced on the paper, the height of her cap is cut off by the top edge of the paper, giving the initial impression that her head is set higher. Ruffles surround her face, and a voluminous fichu or kerchief is drawn round her shoulders, meeting at the front at her waist. Both portraits lack background elements, but both include various inscriptions.
The 2 1/2-inch flat, stained frame with glass glazing front and back is a modern one, believed to have been added by the Corcorn Gallery of Art for exhibition in 1975.
Label TextStudies by folk artists rarely survive. This double-sided sketch of Colonel and Mrs. William Edmonds is an important tool for better understanding the techiques and working methods used by William Joseph Aldridge, an artist associated with a considerable number of pastel portraits of eastern Virginia subjects. (Two of these depict a son and daughter-in-law of the Edmondses).

William Edmonds served several years in the Virginia militia and was active in the affairs of Fauquier County, where he and his wife Elizabeth raised twelve children at their home known as "Oak Spring."
InscribedOn her side in the UL corner in pencil in script is: "Mrs. Elizh Edmonds/Fauquier Cty. Va./1810." On her side in the LL corner in pencil in script is: "Colonel/Mrs Wm Edmonds of Va/1810/taken by Wm [or Mr?]/Oldridge/near/Warrenton/Va". On her side, near and parallel to the R edge in two vertical columns are numbers:

4__ [torn]
52 2
6 1/2 3
8 3/4 _[?]
9 1/2 2
10 _[?]
11 [4/5?]

On his side, across the top, in pencil in script (the first word only being printed in block-style letters) is: "Sketch by/Oldidge pinter". On his side, also across the top, in pencil in script, is: "Col. Wm Edmonds of Fauquier/Cty Va/1810". On his side, in the LR corner, in pencil in script is: "Col. Wm Edmonds/Fauquier cty/Va/ae 76/1810". On his side, near and parallel to the R edge is a column of numbers:

3 1/4
[1/2?]
4 3/8
6 3/8
7 1/8
8 7/8

ProvenanceThe sketches descended in the family of the donor's husband; a line of descent was requested, but few specifics have been provided as of 7/17/2007.

Simmons ("Bibliography") cited 1975 co-ownership of the double-sided sketch as "Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, New York, New York and Dr. Chilton H. MacDonnell [sic], Warrenton, Virginia." These co-owners were siblings, the former being born Austine McDonnell (she died 23 June 1991). CWF's donor is the widow of the second 1975 co-owner, Dr. Chilton H. McDonnell. [Email from Barbara McDonnell Walker --- a daughter of Dr. Chilton H. McDonnell --- to B. Luck, 6 July 2007].