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D2009-CMD. Miniature.
Miniature Portrait of a Man, Possibly Thomas Vivian Brooking (1770-1850)
D2009-CMD. Miniature.

Miniature Portrait of a Man, Possibly Thomas Vivian Brooking (1770-1850)

Dateca. 1805 (possibly)
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Chesterfield County
MediumWatercolor on ivory in copper alloy case
DimensionsSight: 2 7/16 x 2in. (6.2 x 5.1cm) and Framed (Excluding hanging ring): 2 7/8 x 2 7/16in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2007-92
DescriptionA bust-to-half-length, oval-format, miniature portrait of a blue-eyed man turned one-quarter to the viewer's right, his hands not shown, his eyes on the viewer. His thin, medium-to-dark brown hair is cut in short bangs in front, pushed back behind his ears on the sides, and turns up in curls just above the collar in the back. His eyebrows are slightly bushy, his lower face slightly shaded in suggestion of beard growth.
His dark blue coat with self-covered buttons hangs open at the front exposing a white, double-breasted waistcoat having decorative floral embroidery along the edges; the waistcoat is buttoned halfway up his torso. He wears a white shirt and white stock, the stock tie and shirt frill displayed through the waistcoat opening.
The background is modulated from dark to light, bottom to top with blue and gray vermicelli-like hatching to suggest sky and clouds, with the area around the face and, especially, in front of the face, very pale.
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 woman, 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 man was Thomas Vivan Brooking (1770-1850) who, in 1790, married Elizabeth Mary Ann Massie Sherwin (1772-1835). 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."
Thomas and Elizabth Brooking both came from Amelia County families but appear to have spent most, if not all, of their married life in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Thomas's miniature likeness is notable for its finely detailed facial features, the rich blue of his coat, and the eye-catching floral embroidery that edges his waistcoat.


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.