A reader wrote me: Beth, I am in the process of becoming more familiar with Gilbert Stuart and have very much enjoyed your blog. It occurs to me that you may find the attached photo of interest and I would appreciate any thoughts that you might care to offer. The portrait is not signed, but was displayed at the MFA in Boston many years ago (1917 to be precise) as the work of Stuart. It was at the time in the possession of the subject's great granddaughter who, in all likelihood, bequeathed it to the Dover Historical Society which has owned it for many years (I'm presently pulling together the provenance and will know the story of the acquisition in due course.) The subject is Ruggles Whiting, a Boston merchant born in Dover, MA in 1779 and died in Boston or Dover 1827.
My thanks in advance for your thoughts and my apologies for the rather poor quality of my photo.
Elisha L. President Dover Historical society
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I looked at this oil that Elisha sent me. Having tried to photograph my own Stuart numerous times, I sympathized with the glare in the lower right corner, throwing some of the light from the flash into the photograph. Did I mind?............!!
****& my response below****
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Dear Elisha,
Ruggles is not in the Lawrence Park
volumes, which is not particularly significant as my Meeker was not either.
It is a
beautiful portrait, and has all the particular and stunning Stuart
features characteristic of a Stuart portrait--...as he used to say.... his
portraits did not need his signature because the entire portrait itself would
be the signature! My Samuel Meeker was born in 1763, which made him about
40 when he was painted. Ruggles looks to me to be in his early
30ies--which means possibly Stuart did his portrait somewhere around 1809 (say
Ruggles is at age 30)--well within the years that Stuart was painting well (see
portrait of Lydia Smith done in 1808-10) .
Ruggles has a receding hairline, but no
grey whatsoever, does not have the darker bags under the eyes that my Meeker
has...which makes me think he is around 30 or so. The translucent
skin tones are pure Stuart, and the paler forehead was a common feature, since
the men were often outdoors on horseback wearing a hat (the cheeks in contrast
receiving lots of sun). The sitter chose a less expensive portrait, which
did not include a background, or hand or any kind of prop. Stuart would
have surely tried to persuade Mr. Whiting to choose a background that he often
used for merchants (like Meeker) which would have him holding a paper,
indicating a ledger of some sort, and the chair with sky/drapery in the
background. (Samuel Meeker's cousin William Meeker was a business partner
of Samuel but also chose the less expensive format for his portrait, which makes
me think that Samuel was the "CEO".) Stuart was in Boston from
1805 to 1828.
This portrait looks to me to be a genuine
Stuart. Thanks so much for sending the photo of your portrait! It
is worthy of a great display location, along with the story of the sitter.
I have found that a Stuart portrait by itself, without the story of the
sitter, deprives the viewer of the full scope of Stuart's magnificent talent,
as well as a small dose of our history. The provenance also lends
interest to a Stuart painting. Can I post Mr Ruggles Whiting on my blog?
Thanks again,
Beth
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Now for the portrait of lovely Lydia, who sat for our master approx in the same time frame, in Boston. (This lovely portrait I mention in the response above). She would have been only 7 years younger than dear Ruggles. Most likely the Whitings knew the Smiths. Stay in tune for more information on Ruggles, and the Smith family.
Lydia Smith
Daughter of
Barney Smith, educated in the female arts in France, the portrait shows her
skill in artful clothing (simple white muslin gown with empire waist, the
daring fashion set by the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon), indulging in the
proper pastime for young ladies of wealth and culture, drawing and music (see
piano in left corner.) Her jewels also
portray elegant simplicity, a string of choker length pearls with a hanging
gold pendant. Lydia studied at the
school for young ladies established by famed Mme Campan (who learned the arts
at the court of Versailles), where she studied French, music, and art; at one
point two of Napoleon’s sisters attended the famous school. This would have
been a most prestigious, and of course the best preparatory education for any
young girl whose principle aim was to attract a worthy suitor.
Lydia found
her future husband in London in 1811, widower Jonathan Russell who became the
US minister to Sweden. Perhaps her strong determination to excel became more of
an end in itself, as she was aged 31 by the time of the marriage. Russell was a widower, with four children.
Miss Lydia Smith
{from the Lawrence Park Volumes}
1786-1859
A daughter
of Barney and Ann (Otis) Smith of Boston.
Her parents, her brother, Henry Barney Smith, her sister, Mrs. George
Alexander Otis, and her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Abiel Smith, were all
painted by Stuart. She and her brother
passed their early life in France and England, and she attended in Paris the
school of Madame Campan. Later she
studied art in England under the instruction of Benjamin West, who gave her his
palette, which is still preserved in the family. She became, in 1817 in Boston, the second wife of Honorable
Jonathan Russell (1771-1832) of Boston, who had a distinguished diplomatic
career as charge d'affairs at Paris and London, and as one of
the commissioners in 1814 to negotiate and conclude the Treaty of Peace with
Great Britain at Ghent. From 1814 to
1818 he represented the United States as minister plenipotentiary to Sweden,
and the first year of Mrs. Russell’s married life was probably passed in
Sweden. In 1818 they returned
permanently to America and settled in Mendon, Massachusetts, where he
represented that district in Congress from 1821 to 1825. Soon after he removed to Milton,
Massachusetts, where he died, and where his widow survived him for nearly
thirty years.
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