Images(2)

Portrait of a Woman

Dateca. 1810

MediumWatercolor and graphite on laid paper

DimensionsPrimary Support: 4 5/16 x 3 5/8in. (11 x 9.2cm); Secondary Support in place upon receipt: 5 1/4 x 4 1/2in. (13.3 x 11.4cm); Framed (Excluding missing and non-affixed broken elements): 6 1/2 x 5 1/2in.

Credit LineGift of Thomas R. Terry in memory of Lulie Greenhow Jones Terry

Object number2008.300.9

DescriptionA bust-length profile portrait of a young dark-eyed woman facing right. Her dark brown or black hair is twisted into an over-sized knot at the back of her head and held in place by a gold-colored pin or comb. She wears a drop earring and a pink-checked, empire-waisted, short-sleeved dress with a sheer white collar and fichu. The background is an overall dark blue, with signs at the top of an extension of the format from a more circular profile to a more oval-shaped one.

Artist unidentified.

As of receipt in January 2008, the primary support is glued to an oval piece of card stock.

The portrait was received in January 2008 in a gold (bronze powder) painted, oval, molded wood frame with applied composition floral sprigs, the frame broken into 3 pieces (and missing some elements). The frame appears to be a mid-19th century replacement.
Label TextAlthough the subject's identity remains unknown, her likeness is a splendid example of the simple images that proliferated before the advent of photography. Profiles were easier to render and could be executed faster than three-quarter or full-face images, so artists could offer them at very affordable rates. Generally, only silhouettes were cheaper. As an example of comparative charges, in 1815-1822, artist Rufus Porter received a dollar for each painted "side view" (profile) he executed but three times that amount for a "front view." A pair of identical cut silhouettes could be had for twenty cents.

Like the sitter, the artist is unidentified. Nevertheless, the young woman's portrait descended in a Virginia family and appears to be stylistically related to several other portraits of identified Albemarle and Orange County, Virginia, sitters.

ProvenanceFrom Mrs. George Abbitt Terry (nee Lulie Greenhow Jones)(1921-2006) of Chevy Chase, Md., to her nephew-by-marriage, Thomas R. Terry, who was CWF's donor.
Lulie Terry's parents were Catesby ap Catesby Jones and Lulie Johnston of Richmond, Va., and presumably the portrait descended to Lulie Terry through one of them.