Collections record Beta

Portrait Miniature

2018-23-1 a,b

Portrait miniature and accompanying locket. A - Rectangular watercolor on ivory portrait miniature, showing a half-length portrait of a young woman, facing right. Sitter wears a black dress of silk with a ruffed collar of white lace, a white and floral-patterned shawl over her right should and left arm, and a white turban-styled head covering. Sitter has brown eyes with dark hair, styled at the front in ringlets. Miniature is set in a rectangular hinge case of red tooled leather, underneath glass with ormolu mat and green velvet spacer. Opposite the miniature on the case of the lid is green velvet lining with central depression for accompanying locket (B). On front of case in gold lettering, "Miss Sarah Pierce/B.1767 D.1852/Her School/1792-1833." B - Double-sided brass locket with two oval paper works, both under glass. Obverse has a watercolor and ink on paper drawing with text "TIS/MERIT WINS/THE PRIZE" set inside gold loop with floral strands above tied together with pink ribbon. Reverse has a circular, printed image showing a young woman seated next to a globe; the image is attached to an oval backing board.

Founded by Sarah Pierce, the Litchfield Female Academy was a progressive institution for the education of young women that accepted over 3,000 students from 1792 to 1833. The donor of the miniature is a descendant of the Pierce family through Sarah's niece, Anna Brace Loring. The printed oval image found in the locket is the same as that appearing on versions of the Academy's diploma; the phrase "Tis Merit Wins the Prize" also appears on at least one Academy embroidery. This indicates that the locket was likely created by someone with knowledge of Pierce's school.

This miniature by George Catlin was long thought to depict a young Sarah Pierce, founder of the Litchfield Female Academy. Catlin began painting in earnest the late 1810s, when Pierce would be over 50 years old. For this miniature to depict a young Pierce, Catlin would have to be working off of an earlier image of her or altering his miniature to make her appear younger. However, the sitter in this miniature has brown eyes, whereas descriptions of Sarah Pierce indicate she had blue eyes. A second miniature, also by Catlin and in the LHS collection, was completed in the mid to late 1820s and shows a noticeably older Sarah Pierce with blue eyes. It is unlikely that an artist of Catlin’s ability would incorrectly depict Pierce’s eye color; there are also no known examples of Catlin’s work in which he painted a sitter at a younger age. It is more likely that this miniature depicts a relative of Sarah Pierce, and that the misattribution of the sitter came at a later date. The style of clothing points to a slightly earlier date than Catlin’s miniature of Sarah Pierce, with multiple opinions dating the garment to the 1810s. It is possible that this miniature actually depicts Anna Brace Loring, a niece of Sarah Pierce and a student at the Academy from 1811-1815. Born in 1797, she would be of the right age to match the woman depicted in the miniature. Anna married Charles Greely Loring in 1818, and it through her family that the miniature passed down to the donor. Having attended the Academy for multiple years and lived in the Pierce household, it is conceivable that the two works enclosed in the locket date from her time at the school. The gold lettering on the leather case was likely added at a later date, possibly c.1900.

• Catlin, George, 1796-1872

c.1820

Overall width ivory support 2.625", height 3.25".

• ink
• watercolor
• ivory
• leather
• brass
• paper