Images(2)

Miniature Portrait of a Woman Wearing Two Miniatures: Possibly Elizabeth Mary Ann Massie Sherwin Brooking (Mrs. Thomas Vivian Brooking)(1772-1835)

Dateca. 1805 (possibly)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Chesterfield County

MediumWatercolor on ivory in copper alloy case

DimensionsPrimary Support: 2 5/8 x 2 1/8in. (6.7 x 5.4cm) and Framed (Excluding hanging ring): 2 7/8 x 2 7/16in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2007-91

DescriptionA bust-length, oval-format, miniature portrait of a young-to-middle-aged, brown-eyed woman turned one-quarter to the viewer's right, her eyes on the viewer. Her dark brown hair is pulled back in a mass of curls at the back of her head, with long, wispy bangs in the front and a band or ribbon or comb holding part of her long hair back. A gold hoop earring is shown on her visible ear. She wears a white dress with white embroidered decoration; it has a high waist and short sleeves with long, sheer, undersleeves. A row of buttons or pearls is seen along the forward edge of the near sleeve. The dress has a low, semi-squared neckline with a ruffle along the edge, the bodice filled in with sheer white embroidered fabric. She wears a high white ruffled stock tie around her neck. Around her neck, she wears a string of pearls from which hangs, in a locket, a miniature portrait of a man in a blue coat, facing toward the viewer's left. The primary subject wears a second miniature portrait up close around her neck and largely hidden by the tie of the stock, its subject indiscernible. A nosegay of white flowers and green foliage is tucked at her high waistline, off center to the subject's proper left. The background is gray-blue modulated to lighter shades from bottom to top and possesses the splotchy effect of clouds.
The copper alloy case with bezel is uninscribed and has a hanging loop affixed to the top center of the back.
Label TextThis miniature was acquired along with another, of a man, and a third, of a younger woman, all three identified by oral tradition as members of Virginia's Bland family. Guided by one interpretation of the initials on the back of one case, by the line of the miniatures' descent, and by matching possible subjects' ages with approximate costume and hairstyle dates, it seems plausible that the older woman was Elizabeth Mary Ann Massie Sherwin (1772-1835). In 1790, Elizabeth married the speculated subject of the second miniature, Thomas Vivan Brooking (1770-1850). The third miniature may represent their daughter, Elizabeth Randolph Brooking (1792-1814). The elder Brookings' portraits appear to have come from the same hand, but stylistically, the younger woman's seems the work of another. See also "Curatorial Remarks."
The older Elizabeth illustrates how some miniatures, particularly those in locket-style cases, were worn on the body as personal adornments. Suspended from the subject's pearl necklace is a miniature of a man in a blue coat, possibly a representation of her husband. Look closely, however, and you will see what appears to be a second miniature painting, worn high at the base of her neck and half-hidden by the tie of her ruffled stock. Mrs. Brooking's miniature portrait is thus not only a memorable depiction of a fashionably- and realistically-attired sitter but also an overt display of the miniaturists's wares. This particular likeness is further distinguished by exquisitely rendered white-on-white details of the subject's pearls and the embroidery and ruffles on her dress.

ProvenanceAcc. nos. 2007-91, -92, and -93 were consigned to Ken Farmer's Auctions, Radford, Va., for sale on 7 October 2007 by Parke Fontaine Eager, a great-granddaughter of Mrs. Edwin F. Conger (nee Dorothea Lloyd Tatum) via Eager's father. Eager stated the miniatures were Mrs. Conger's relatives (email of 18 May 2008). Eager provided the auction house with a typescript genealogy compiled for Mrs. Conger, which was instrumental in compiling conjectural lines of descent and identifications of the three miniature subjects as sketched below.
Based on Conger's typescript genealogy and possible interpretation of the initials on the back of 2007-93 as "ERB":
From the sitter to her daughter, Mrs. Henry Augustus Tatum (Amelia Sherwin Brooking) (1804-1865); to her son, Randolph Tatum (?-?); to his daughter, Mrs. Edwin F. Conger (Dorothea Lloyd Tatum); to her great-granddaughter, Parke Fontaine Eager.