Portrait of the Week - Dedicated to the Devotions

Dearest Friends,
Our portrait of the week is actually a collection of paintings, of the Devotions of Connecticut by the artist Winthrop Chandler.

Meet Eunice Huntington Devotion Lyman depicted with her child in a portrait by Winthrop Chandler dated 1772, located at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, CT.

Eunice Huntington Devotion Lyman 1772 by Winthrop Chandler

She is the wife of merchant Ebenezer Devotion, Jr., whose father and mother were painted by Winthrop Chandler two years earlier in honor of Ebenezer Senior's 56th birthday.

Interesting handkerchief treatment here and cap similar to others we have seen previously in our portrait gallery.  Her gown is more highly decorated than some of our other ladies, perhaps demonstrating their wealth, though oddly, notice a lack of jewelry.

Here is her husband, Judge Ebenezer Devotion who's portrait is also at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum.  Nice mole, but not a proper hair mole.  Fabulous suit!

Ebenezer Devotion by Winthrop Chandler 1772 

By the way, here are her in-law's portraits, no wonder Eunice is not smiling

Revered Ebenezer & Mary Lathrop Devotion 1770 by Winthrop Chandler

What is fun about this collection of portraits is that they are more in the folk art style -- very different from the very realistic paintings done by the classically trained Mr. Copley.   However Mr. Chandler still takes the time to show us important clothing and accessory details.

As we prepare for The Challenge, examining portraits is one of several very valuable tools we have to help us define what 1773 fashion really looked like.

I hope you enjoyed the Devotions.

YH&OS,

Mrs. S