Heirlooms In Miniatures

Text extracted from opening pages of book: HEIRLOOMS IN MINIATURES BY ANNE HOLLINGSWORTH WHARTON WITH A CHAPTER ON MINIATURE PAINTING BY EMILY DRAYTON TAYLOR WITH NUMEROUS REPRODUCTIONS OF THE BEST EXAMPLES OF COLONIAL, REVOLUTIONARY, AND MODERN MINIA TURE PAINTERS PHILADELPHIA & LONDON J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY TO HELEN BELL WHOSE FRIENDSHIP WAS A JOY, WHOSE MEMORY IS AN INSPIRATION PREFACE To gather together some interesting and representative American miniatures, and to accompany them with a brief record of the individuals whom they represent, was the first intention of the author of this volume. In the course of her researches, and while in corre spondence with families owning precious heir looms in miniatures, so much of interest was brought to light with regard to early American painters, that this book has grown into a chronicle of the sayings and doings of the artists, as well as of those whom they por trayed. For this divergence from her original design the writer feels that she need make no apology, in view of the interest that belongs to the reminiscences and anecdotes which have thus been brought to light, our early artists being men of attractive personality, whose histories are inseparably connected with their country's progress in the arts and sciences, as well as with her Colonial and her Revolu tionary life. PREFACE Without in any sense attempting to supply the much needed history of American art for which the writer has in vain sought the libra ries of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, she ventures to believe that she here presents many facts with regard to the art life of the country which are unknown to the general reader, in connection with much family data, historical and reminiscent. The author desires to express her thanks to those who have confided to her care the originals of miniatures which are here repro duced, and takes pleasure in making her acknowledgments for the use of diaries, letters, and family data to Miss Elizabeth Hesselius Murray, of West River, Maryland; to General Charles W. Darling, of Utica, New York; to Mr. Jonathan Trumbull, of Norwich, Connecticut, and to Miss Blanche Sully, Miss Anna and Miss Mary Peale, Mrs. Henry S. Huidekoper, Miss Hannah M. Milligan, Dr. Charles E. Cadwalader, the Honorable Craig Biddle, Mr. James S. Biddle, Mr. Horace W. Sellers, Dr. Albert Peale, and Mr. Walter P. Brown, of Philadelphia. For a valuable chapter upon Miniature Painting as an Art she is indebted to her friend Mrs. J. Madison Taylor, of Philadel PREFACE phia, some of whose beautiful miniatures adorn the pages of this volume. While much material has been drawn from original sources, in the form of diaries, let ters, and recollections, the following author ities have been consulted in the preparation of this book: Cunningham's Lives of the Painters; History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States/' by William Dunlap; Book of the Artists, by Henry T. Tuckerman; Art and Artists of Connecticut, by H. W. French; History of the Centennial of the Inauguration of Wash ington, by Clarence W. Bowen; Life Por traits of George Washington and Andrew Jackson, by Charles Henry Hart; Old Kent, Maryland; Provincial Councillors of Penn sylvania, by Charles P. Keith; Autobiog raphy of Colonel John Trumbull; Life of Gilbert Stuart, and Reminiscences of New port, by George C. Mason; The Domestic and Artistic Life of JohnSingleton Copley, by Martha Babcock Amory, and The Life of J. S. Copley, by Augustus Thorndyke Perkins. A. H. W. Philadelphia, November, 1897. CONTENTS CHAPTER I Page Colonial Art .......... n CHAPTER II Two Pioneers in American Art . . 38 CHAPTER III Some Artists of the Revolution . . 77 CHAPTER IV End-of-the-Century Artists .... 119 CHAPTER V Malbone and Fraser ....... 147 CHAPTER VI The Beauty of Our Grandmothers . 172 CHAPTER VII Some Later Limners ...... 197 CHAPTER VIII. BY EMILY DRAYTON TAYLOR Miniature Painting as an Art ... 227 xi