Portrait of the Week - Seeing Double Redux

Dearest Friends,
There was so much story surrounding our two portraits last week, that we really didn't take much time to examine the details of these paintings. So this week, let's revisit our two lovely ladies -- The woman in gold being Mary Lathrop and the woman in blue either Susannah Botencou or Sister Botencou Lathrop

On closer examination, we can see that the artist didn't merely switch heads and gown colors, there are subtle differences -- and if you look close enough, you can play a round of "one of these things is not like the other".  For example, one woman wears an apron, one is thinner, one sleeve flounce turns up, one holds a fan, etc., However, lets look specifically at the clothing elements.

Notice, that even though these paintings are folk art in genre, the artist was still was accomplished enough to show us things like how the fabric fits to the body.  There are ripples in the silk around the sleeve and on the robings, illustrating that the fabric did not necessarily fit the wearer like it was sprayed on, giving us a hint as to how our gowns might fit.

Though the specific item I'd like to bring your attention to, is the piece around her shoulders that looks very similar to one worn in one of our pervious portraits.  Is this a lace tippet? is it a kind of handkerchief? mantle?  Don't know, but it's really pretty and fits around her shoulders in a very flattering manner with its box pleats shaping it so nicely.  Let's keep an eye out for another.  Have any of our readers seen another example? And any thoughts as to what it might be called?

Just another question from two portraits surrounded in questions!

YH&OS,

Mrs. S

Portrait of the Week - Seeing Double

Dearest Friends,
Our portrait of the week is actually two women presented in the same manner by the same artist and was perhaps married to to same man OR maybe the second portrait is not who it appears to be.  So I present to you an identity mystery to solve.

Portrait# 1

Mrs. John Lothrop nee Mary Jones by John Durand, National Gallery of Art c 1770

Mary Jones was born on December 12, 1743, daughter of Timothy Jones and Jane Harris.  She married John Lathrop in 1764 and died in 1773, after a "long and painful sickness" at the age of 30. Here is her obituary from the Connecticut Journal 5/21/1773.

Portrait #2

Mary Lathrop or Susannah Bontecou Lothrop c 1768-1770 by John Durand - Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Deja vu all over again!" The information on this second, almost identical, portrait is a little sketchy.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art has it listed as Susannah or Mary Bontecou.  Though according to Deborah Chotner, author of America Naive Paintings (National Gallery of Art), the woman in Portrait #1 is John Lathrop's first wife, Mary and Portrait #2, is Mary Bontecou Lathrop, John's second wife, who he had married by 1774 and John had her portrait painted in a similar style by the same artist.

In checking the Bontecou genealogy, there is a listing for a daughter (name and other information unknown) who was "married to a John Lothrop, cabinet maker".  And family lore has it that there was a portrait of her that was said to have been damaged in a raid by the British in 1779. Apparently later, family members fessed up that it was they who had damaged it -- they used to shoot arrows at it when it was stored in their attic. So is this that portrait of Daughter Bontecou who married John Lathrop?  And did poor bereaved John Lothrop really have his second wife painted by John Durand in the image of his first wife?

So the plot thickens.  I found an article written for Antiques and Fine Art Magazine by John Herdeg about a portrait he had purchased.  Long story short (read his article for details.) He hypothesizes that the portrait at the Met (Portrait #2) is actually Susannah Bontecou, the wife of Peter Bontecou (married 1762) rather than his sister who had married John Lothrop.  And Portrait #2 is the really mate to the portrait that Mr. Herdeg purchased, which he believes to be Peter Bontecou.

Portrait of a Mariner by John Durand - purchased by John Herdeg

I'm with Mr Herdeg. Why would a husband have his new wife painted in the exact same manner as his late wife -- that's just creepy!  Unless he didn't actually commission Portrait #2 and it is the Bontecou's family's painting of their daughter that was shot with arrows by her male relatives. But if it is Lathrop's second wife, why was it passed down through the Bontecou family rather than the Lothrops as its provenance indicates?  I have to agree with Mr. Herdeg, it does look like a partner to the Peter Bontecou portrait. And if it's a marriage portrait of Peter & Susannah Bontecou (m. 1762) , it was done within two years of when the woman in Portrait #1, Mary Jones Lathrop, was married (m.1764).  

What do you think?

Next week we'll take a closer look at what they are wearing - in the meantime, perhaps we can solve this mystery.

YH&OS, 

Mrs S

Portrait of the Week - The Peale Family

Dearest Friends,
In honor of Thanksgiving, this week's portrait is all about family.  I give you Charles Wilson Peale & his family painted in 1773 in the collection at the New York Historical Society.  There are some nice close-up images on the NYHS site.

 Lots of great detail here ladies and gentlemen, especially the contrast between the older and the younger women -- even the difference between how both grannies are dressed.  So hopefully you can take a few minutes to enjoy Mr Peale's family before you are off to enjoy your own.

YH&OS,

Mrs. S

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

Portrait of the Week - Meet Elizabeth Lewis Goldthwait

Dearest Friends,
Last week you were introduced to Elizabeth Goldthwait, the younger, this week her mother Elizabeth Lewis Goldthwait (1713-1794) is our portrait of the week.  Completed in 1771, this portrait by Copley was billed to the Goldthwaits at 19.2 pounds and 9 pounds for the frame.

Elizabeth, who is 59 years old here, wears a brown silk satin sacque, with very little ornamentation other than sleeve ruffles.  Notice -- no apron.  Her cap is similar to Margaret Manning's -- a heart shaped cap that fastens under her chin - set off by some lovely pearls at her neck.  What is notable in this portrait, is how it appears that Mrs. Goldthwait is wearing two handkerchiefs or is the second a lace mantle?

Here is the portrait of Elizabeth's husband.  The two portraits were painted to complement each other.

Ezekial Goldthwait, by Copley 1771

Elizabeth died in 1794, outliving her husband by 12 years.  Here is her obituary.

A wonderful model for any of our women of "a certain age" who would like to portray a lady of means - and who looks good in brown.

YH&OS,

Mrs. S

Portrait of the Week - Elizabeth Goldthwait Cummings Bacon

Dearest Friends,
I'd like to introduce you to our sitter of the week, Elizabeth Goldthwait Cummings Bacon. This portrait, completed by Copley in 1769 is in the Brooklyn Museum.  She was the daughter of Ezekiel and Elizabeth Goldthwait who also sat for Mr Copley and we'll be featuring her mother's portrait in a future blog.  She was 37 when she sat for this painting.

Elizabeth Goldthwait Cummings Bacon by Copley from the Brooklyn Museum

Elizabeth was married twice, both times to ministers.  Her marriage to Revered Bacon was announced in the Boston News Letter on November 11, 1771

She is wearing the heart-shaped cap seen in the late 1760's / early seventies.   Her handkerchief is exquisite - and once again, we see this lovely sheerness that barely hides her decolletage. And that lace trim!!!!  Is it me or does the neckline of her gown seem really low?

She has about her neck a terrific multi-strand seed pearl necklace, tied in the back with a bow, it's so big it covers most of her neck. Anyone see a pattern here with the gowns we are seeing?  Stomacher front, this one silk satin, with sleeve ruffles and appears, little other ornamentation.

Another wonderful look to strive for!  Enjoy

YH&OS,

Mrs. S

Portrait of the Week - a Beauty from Brown

Found another New England lovely to add our portrait collection -- though she is a transplant - originally from New Jersey. This one is from Brown University in Providence, RI.  She is Margaret Stites Manning (1740-1815), wife of the first president of the college painted by Cosmo Alexander in 1770.

"James Manning......it is said that his wife, who had been Miss Margaret Stites of Elizabethtown, was lovely in person and possessed of those "elegant accomplishments and superior qualities which well accorded with her husband's character and happily fitted her for the discharge of duties inseparable from public positions of honor and usefulness."....."*


*The New England Magazine' May 1899 Vol XX No. 3, pg's 293-314 - 'Brown University' by Henry Robinson Palmer.


She was born in Oct 16, 1740, so she was thirty when this portrait was painted.


She's dressed a bit more conservatively than our Boston beauties (could that be an 18th century Jersey girl thing or just that she was a Baptist minister's wife?) with her lappet cap fastened under her chin, but her gown is similar, complete with a rosette fastening her handkerchief. Her shift and cuff ruffle peak out from under her sleeve flounce like our other subjects.  I just love how sheer her handkerchief is -- covering but not quite covering.  Too bad we don't see whether or not she is wearing an apron and if that apron is tied over her gown -- rats!  Lots to emulate here.  Enjoy!

YH&OS,
Mrs. S.