Description:
man; portrait; costume/uniform
Label Text:
Nathaniel and Bethiah Bassett were in their seventies when they sat for these portraits. Erastus Salisbury Field, an itinerant painter from Leverett, Massachusetts, did not conceal the signs of their age, treating them instead as marks of longevity and experience. He portrayed Nathaniel Bassett with the dignity worthy of Bassett’s role as a Revolutionary War hero and founder of the western Massachusetts town of Lee, where he was a blacksmith. The artist depicted Bethiah Bassett, Nathaniel’s wife, as an elderly matriarch—a mother of ten children, married for fifty-five years. Field recorded the signs of age on her face: wrinkles, a mustache, and a double chin. Her elaborate cap, imported silk brocade shawl, and the book she holds symbolize her prosperity and education.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1985.29.1 |
