Antique miniature portraits of the Tormey-Holder Collection

 

 


American Artist: John Wood Dodge

 

 

Portrait miniature by John Wood Dodge of a Jacksonian era gentleman with blond hair and sideburns

Jacksonian Era Gentleman
Identified as James Laird*

American
circa 1830-1835
by John Wood Dodge
(1807-1893)

2 1/2 x 3 inches (sight)

watercolor on ivory; housed under glass in a gilt copper case with a cast foliate border

*Cataloged in the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive, where the subject is identified as James Laird

Formerly in the collection of Margaret Moore Riker Haskell (1864-1942, wife of General Motors executive Jonathan Amory Haskell), prominent philanthropist and noted collector of American art and antiques. (It is not known whether James Laird was an ancestor of Mrs. Haskell, or whether she simply acquired the miniature for her art collection.)

Following the death of Mrs. Haskell, the miniature was sold at auction in 1944 (Lot #452, "Americana Collection of the Late Mrs. J. Amory Haskell", Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, New York), where it was purchased by a Mrs. D. K. Earle of Philadelphia. The miniature was later sold in 1949, by the family of Mrs. Earle, at which time it was purchased by Gerard Pitt of Miami, Florida. Thereafter, it passed through the family of Mr. Pitt, and was acquired for the Tormey-Holder Collection in 2018, from a descendant of Pitt.

 

 

Portrait miniature by John Wood Dodge of a Jacksonian era gentleman with blond hair and sideburns

A view of the portrait outside its case, allowing its colors and
brush strokes to be seen more clearly without the distortion or
reflection typically caused by the glass lens of a miniature's case
(Click + symbol above for an enlarged view)

 

 

Other portraits in the Tormey-Holder Collection by John Wood Dodge
(click photo for larger view and additional information):

 

Jacksonian Era Lady
Wearing Coral Jewelry

 

 

Portrait miniature by John Wood Dodge of Wiliam Richard Thomas Chaplain

William Richard Thomas Chaplain (1811-1840),
Painted Posthumously after a Full-Sized Portrait
in Oil on Canvas, Painted between 1837 and 1840, by
Jacques Guillaume Lucien Amans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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