Description:
Oil painting of a boy and dog by Joseph Badger (1708-1765) of Boston. The Badger attribution is based on a letter (original in the Smithsonian) from Josephus Cabot to his wife, Hepsibah, on April 25, 1757. Josephus describes "an effigie which I have procured made for your home-coming" of their son, Josephus, done by the limner, Joseph Badger, for one quinea six pence that "leaves little to be desired but to my mind he has portrayed the boy's best coat a bit too short and his face, for comeliness, not sufficiently in the image of mine own." According to his father, the "life size portrait shows my name-sake Josephus, our eldest son, standing in a gentlemanly attitude with his right hand on hip and left hand on Trixie his little dog - also true to life". The boy is wearing a slate-colored vest, green coat, brown pants, and black shoes.
Label Text:
Exhibited in "Rococo: Celebrating 18th-Century Design and Decoration" (2018-2019): The court of Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715) promoted ballet as a model for proper posture and movement. Advice manuals published on both sides of the Atlantic, and promoted by itinerant dancing masters, helped to disseminate that instruction. The posture of this young sitter, possibly Josephus Cabot (b. about 1750) of Boston, suggests the training undertaken at an early age for a graceful carriage. Standing tall, with shoulders set down and back, Cabot's arms are held in a gently curved position suggesting ease, not strain. The feet are arranged into Ballet's fourth position.
Tags:
portraits Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1441 |
