Description:
Oil portrait of Dr. William Stoddard Williams (1762-1829) of Deerfield by William Jennys (1774-1859), which is one of a pair with one of his wife, Mary Hoyt Williams (1760-1821) of Deerfield (66.226A). According to the daybook of Dr. Williams, number 9, July 5, 1801 to December 26, 1802, pages 11 and 15 (PVMA 13185), Dr. Williams paid $24 for the two portraits, $2 to Daniel Clay of Greenfield to make the frames, and $1.50 to Jacob Wicker to paint and gild the frames. Framed in an oval roundel, Williams is dressed in a black coat, black vest, and white neck cloth, oval face, and is partially balding. William Jennys and his father Richard Jennys (c.1734-1809) travelled for sixteen years as itinerant portrait painters between 1792/3 and 1809. The first seven years was mainly centered around New Milford, Connecticut, but William was in NYC long enough to be listed as a portrait painter in the 1797/8 directories. By 1800, they painted mostly in western and central Massachusetts, with trips to several towns in Vermont and New Hampshire; and between 1804-1809, they were centered in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Stretcher and frame both made from white pine. Gilding and black paint on frame appears to be original.
Label Text:
[Daniel Clay exhibition. Flynt Center, 2017-2023] When Mary Hoyt (1760-1821) married Deerfield physician Williams Stoddard Williams (1762-1829) in 1786, she received a gift of furniture from her father, David Hoyt, including the scallop-top chest-on-frame included in this exhibition. Fifteen years later, in 1801, Mary (age 41) and William Stoddard Williams (age 38), commissioned itinerant portraitist William Jennys (fl. 1793-1807) to paint their portraits. William Stoddard Williams recorded in his account book a payment of $24.00 to William Jenny for his sitting fee and additional payments of $2.00 to Greenfield cabinetmaker Daniel Clay (1770-1848) for supplying the frames, and $1.50 to Jacob Wicker for painting and gilding them.
When Mary Hoyt (1760-1821) married Deerfield physician Williams Stoddard Williams (1762-1829) in 1786, she received a gift of furniture from her father, David Hoyt, including the scallop-top chest-on-frame included in this exhibition. Fifteen years later, in 1801, Mary (age 41) and William (age 38), commissioned itinerant portraitist William Jennys (fl. 1793-1807) to paint their portraits. Williams recorded in his account book a payment of $24.00 to William Jenny for his sitting fee, $2.00 to Greenfield cabinetmaker Daniel Clay (1770-1848) for supplying the frames, and $1.50 to Jacob Wicker for their painting and gilding.
Tags:
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+66.226 |
