American: Henry Colton Shumway

Sarah Mullett Hall (1780-1852;
Mrs. Charles Henry Hall)

American
circa 1832
by Henry Colton Shumway (1807-1884)*

2 1/8 x 2 1/2 inches (sight)

watercolor on ivory; housed under glass in a gilt metal case with a cast foliate border and bail

Formerly a holding of the Werner R. Conrad Collection (San Francisco antiques dealer and art collector Werner Rudolph Conrad; 1882-1979)

*Cataloged in the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive

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

When this portrait miniature was acquired for the collection, the subject was unknown and it was not attributable to a particular artist. Brad Crisler (of Truman B. Crisler Fine Portrait Miniatures) later discovered a photo of the same miniature in the Frick Art Reference Library database, by which it was learned that, as of 1939, the portrait was in the collection of Werner R. Conrad, and that the subject was a "Mrs. Charles Hall", painted by Henry Colton Shumway.

Armed with this information, we did some additional digging in the Frick database and later discovered that Shumway also painted other members of the Hall family: Mrs. Hall's husband, Charles Henry Hall, their daughter, Eliza Ann Hall, and their son-in-law, Lewis Albert Sayre. Researching these names and their relationships in genealogy records, we were then able to flesh out the full identity of "Mrs. Charles Hall": Sarah Mullett, born on September 7, 1780 in Bristol, England to Thomas Mullett (a stationer by profession) and Mary Evans.

Sarah Mullett and Charles Henry Hall were married in London on March 30, 1815. (Charles was an American merchant who frequently traveled to Europe to acquire goods to sell back home. It is presumed that he met Sarah while on one such trip.) The two settled in New York City, where they raised four children.

A notation in the Frick database erroneously dates Mrs. Hall's portrait to 1827 (four years prior to when Shumway even opened his first studio in New York City). Charles Hall's portrait is dated to 1832; and it is likely that his wife's portrait was painted in the same year, at which point she was 52 years old.

Sarah Mullett Hall died on May 13, 1852, at the age of 72.

Other portraits in the Tormey-Holder Collection by Henry Colton Shumway
(click photos for larger views and additional information):

Jacksonian Era Gentleman