Images(2)

Miniature Portrait of a Young Woman, Possibly Elizabeth Randolph Brooking (1792-1814)

Date1805-1814 (possibly)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Chesterfield County

MediumWatercolor on ivory in copper alloy case with gilded cypher and human hair inset at the back

DimensionsSight: 2 9/16 x 2 1/8in. (6.5 x 5.4cm) and Framed (Including fixed hanging slide at center top): 3 1/2 x 2 3/8in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2007-93

DescriptionA bust-length, oval-format, miniature portrait of a brown-eyed young woman turned one-quarter to the viewer's right, her eyes on the viewer, her arms hanging down, and her hands not shown. Her dark brown hair is gathered in a mass of curls at the upper back of her head. She has very long, wispy bangs that are, largely, swept to the near side of her face. She wears a high-waisted, short-sleeved, white gauzy dress having a low, square-cut neckline. She wears gold hoop earrings. The background is slightly modulated dark-to-light, bottom-to-top, with very coarse hatching in blue and, occasionally, red; the effect is splotchy, only vaguely reminiscent of clouds.
The copper alloy case has a row of beading at the sight edge and, on the back, an oval aperture with beaded bezel exposes locks of brown hair woven beneath a gilded cypher. A bright-cut initial is cut into the case below the aperture.
Label TextThis miniature was acquired along with two others, of an older couple, all three identified by oral tradition as members of Virginia's Bland family. Guided by one interpretation of the initials on the back of this miniature's 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 twosome were Thomas Vivan Brooking (1770-1850) and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Ann Massie Sherwin (1772-1835). This likeness, of a younger woman, 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 Brooking family lived in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Thomas and Elizabeth had eleven children, of whom Elizabeth Randolph Brooking was the eldest; the reason for her death at age twenty-three has not been determined.
MarkingsThe gilded cypher set in the aperture on the reverse appears to read: "E R B". Below the reverse aperture, bright-cut engraving appears to read: "H" or "T C" or "J C" or "I C", the meaning of which is undetermined as of 20 November 2007.
A snippet of newspaper is wadded and glued behind the hair insert, holding it in place; the wording on the newspaper has not been transcribed in its entirety, but it includes the date "1813". It is not clear whether the year is referenced as past, present, or future, however.
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.