Double portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan

Dateca. 1845

Attributed to Sheldon Peck (1797-1868)

MediumOil on canvas with painted frame

DimensionsUnframed: 31 3/8 x 35 7/16in. (79.7 x 90cm) and Framed: 38 x 41 13/16in.

Credit LineGift of Juli Grainger

Object number2008.100.1

DescriptionA double portrait of a man and woman, each shown full-length and seated in a decoratively painted, bamboo-turned, scroll-back Windsor chair whose visible stile bears trefoils. The two figures are turned slightly towards one another, he on the viewer's left, she on the right. He wears a white shirt, black tie, a black, three-piece suit, and black shoes. His proper right leg is crossed over his left, and with his proper right hand, he rests a walking stick on the floor, holding it precisely upright between himself and the viewer. His dark hair seems thin, and he has a receding hairline, as well as sideburns.
She wears a black dress with a white collar and a white ruffled cap tied with a black ribbon under her chin. In her lap she holds a sheer white [handkerchief?] and a book, retaining her place in the latter with her thumb. Her dark hair is pulled smoothly over the top of her head but is otherwise hidden by her cap. Only the tip of one of her black-shod feet is visible beneath the edge of her skirt.
Between the two sitters, a scroll-footed, turned stand covered with a blue cloth supports a white vase of flowers and a large book. The sitters and stand are positioned on bare, yellow-painted floorboards; the boards' fore edges are visible at the lower front edge of the picture plane, and the boards all slant from upper left to lower right. The background is a uniform warm brown while, above the couple, a large red drape is hung, pulled up at the center.
The 4 1/8-inch wide splayed frame is original and is grain-painted to resemble mahogany veneer
Label TextSheldon Peck's double portrait of the Vaughans is extraordinary by any standards. By the mid-1840s, photography had begun to lure patrons away from oil painters, many of whom tried to address this loss of business by imitating photographic effects. Peck took a different tack, however, and began to exploit his own medium more explicitly by using brighter colors, larger canvases, and adding boldly painted frames.

The Vaughans' portrait is one of only five by Peck showing multiple, full-length figures in a horizontal format. The artist used a stage-like setting for these, but the Vaughan likeness is unparalled in its emphasis. Not only do diagonally slanted floor boards suggest a stage; Peck's depiction of the cut ends of the boards and his billowing red drapery imply that the flooring IS a stage. Sparse furnishings, a blank back wall, and lack of shadows further contribute to the theatricality of the setting, which must have appealed to the otherwise sedate-looking midwestern sitters.

Research to date suggests that the man in the portrait was either Frederick Vaughan (1796-1881) or his brother, David Trumble Vaughan (1794-1874). The wives of these two were sisters, respectively, Tryal Beebe (1797-1874) and Sophia Beebe (1798-1866). Both couples were listed as living in Naperville (Kane County), Illinois, in the 1850 federal census, and the double portrait is assumed to have been painted there, despite the painting's having long been associated with the nearby community of Aurora, in the same county. Peck did paint several Aurora sitters. The fact that the Frederick Vaughans were buried in Aurora might make them slightly better candidates for the sitters than the David Trumble Vaughans (who were laid to rest in Big Rock, Kane County, Illinois).

InscribedSee "Marks" for some freehand labeling.
MarkingsThe reverse of the upper strainer bears two paper labels, the first hand-written, the second typed with a hand-written update. The first, in ink, reads: "Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan./painted by Mr. Peck, Aurora, Ill. 1839/owned by John H. Bereman".
The typed portion of the second label reads: "Portrait of Mr and Mrs. William Vaughn [sic]/of Aurora, Illinois. Painted by Sheldon/Peck in 1839. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Joe/Willis, Mt. Morris, Ill." The hand-written update to this typed label consists of a strike-through of the typed owner names with, written below them, "Mr & Mrs. B. M. Barentholtz/Princeton, New Jersey."
The reverse of the upper frame member bears three pre-printed Whitney Museum exhibition loan labels that are filled in with typed information; the pre-printed matter has not been transcribed here. See below for the added typed information:
Label #1, for the exhibition "The Flowering of American Folk Art" (see "Exhibited"), gives the artist as "Sheldon Peck," the title as "Mr. and Mrs. William Vaughan," the catalogue no. as "54," the lender as "Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Barenholtz," and the exhibition as "The Flowering of American Folk Art, 1776-1876/February 1-March 24, 1974."
Label #2, for the exhibition "Sheldon Peck" (see "Exhibited"), gives the artist as "ATTRIBUTED TO SHELDON PECK," the title as "MR AND MRS VAUGHN [sic]," the date as "CA - 1845," the catalogue no. as "29," the lender as "BARENHOLTZ COLLECTION," and the exhibition as "SHELDON PECK."
Label #3, for the exhibition "American Folk Painters of Three Centuries" (see "Exhibited"), gives the artist as "S. Peck," the title as "MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM VAUGHAN," the date as "ca. 1845," the lender as "BARENHOLTZ COLLECTION," and the exhibition as "American Folk Painters of Three Centuries/2/25/80-5/13/80."

ProvenanceJohn Bereman, Geneva, Ill.; Betty Willis, Mt. Morris, Ill.; Bihler and Coger Antiques, Ashley Falls, Mass.; Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Barenholtz, Marlborough, NH; sold at auction on behalf of the Bernard Barenholtz Trust at Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, NY, on 28 November 2001, whence bought by CWF's donor.