Collections record Beta
Collection Record Detail
Object Name
Portrait Miniature - Stephen Van Rensselaer (1765-1839)
Object Number
1973-02-6
Description
Unfinished miniature on a rectangular piece of ivory. Head in upper right and the pencil sketch of tie and shoulders are indicated below. Subject faces slightly to left; wig and costume about 1800.
Provenance
The miniature is a copy of Gilbert Stuart's ca. 1794 portrait of Van Rensselaer. In the original oil, the clothing and background are unfinished, as in this copy. Donor bought this and three other miniatures from Mrs. Reeves Hart, of Milton. Subjects of the other miniatures are of unknown.
Comment
Born in Milton, a village in the town of Litchfield, Anson Dickinson began advertising himself as a miniature painter in 1802. He traveled to New York in 1804, where he was painted by Edward Greene Malbone, the leading American miniaturist of his day. Dickinson painted over 1,500 miniatures over the course of fifty years, traveling as far as Canada and South Carolina to paint. He kept a studio in New York for a period, and returned frequently to Litchfield where he painted prominent residents and students of the Female Academy and Law School.
Category
Date Made
1807-1809
Dimensions
2 5/8" x 2"
Materials
Social Tags (experimental)
