American Artist: John Wood Dodge
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.
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
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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