Description:
Oval portrait in miniature of an unknown young woman siting on a red chair or sofa, painted in watercolor on ivory and framed in a chased-edged, larve gold oval frame with large loop at the top for hanging onto a chain as a pendant or locket. The piece came to the museum from the descendants of Dr. Stephen West Williams (1790-1855) of Deerfield, who married Harriet Taylor Goodhue (1799-1874) in 1818. Harriet was the daughter of Dr. Joseph Goodhue (1762-1849) who was a doctor at Fort Constitution, N.H., and moved to Deerfield by 1822. Stephen and Harriet had four children, one of whom, Dr. Edward Jenner Williams (1823-1881), studied medicine with his father and and then moved to Laona, Illinois, where he married Orilla Nancy Webster in 1856. Two of their three sons and their daughter lived to adulthood - Dr. Henry Smith Williams (1863-1943), Dr. Edward Huntington Williams (1868-1944), and Harriet Goodhue Williams Myers (1867-1949) who wrote a privately printed book (1945), "We Three, Henry, Eddie and Me: Henry Smith Williams, Edward Huntington Williams, Harriet Williams Myers." The donor, Dorothy Williams Hartigan, was the daugher of Henry Smith Williams and Florence Whitney Williams, and first cousin of Helen Myers Curtis and her sister, Neva Myers Brown, who were the daughters of Harriet Williams Myers and Raymond Myers. Both Mrs. Hartigan and Mrs. Curtis gave Historic Deerfield a number of Williams/Goodhue family pieces. The woman has dark brown hair, styled close to her head with ringlets in front of her ears in the style of the 1840's; long dark eyebrows and large brown eyes; small pink-red lips; and wearing a dark gown with white trim across the straight neck line; the background is light brown. The glass over the back comes out, and probably once held hair. This portrait maybe by the same hand that did the portrait of Orson Bennet Williams (1834-1912) (HD 69.0162) also dated circa 1845, which was donated by another Williams descendent, Edgar Miller Williams. These miniature portraits, which began to appear in the 17th century, were originally meant as keepsakes to be secreted away in a drawer or pocket, or worn as jewelry. In the early 18th century, ivory was substituted for the traditional base of vellum over card. The nonabsorbent the ivory was lightly sanded and degreased so that the watercolor would adhere; often using a graphite sketch, the artist would then build up the portrait with transparent washes of color. The background was filled out with either a hatching technique of parallel or crossed lines, or a stippled application of small dots. While the miniature picture itself appears contemporary with the locket, it may not be original to the jewelry, as it doesn't fit properly inside. Miniatures were usually not glazed with mica at this time, as this one appears to be. There is no border within the locket or at the edge of the glass to cover the awkward join/fit of the miniature and the frame.
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