Mother and Child (67.268)

Three-quarter length, oil on canvas portrait of mother and child against a classical background.

The background consists of a landscape over the sitter's right shoulder and a pair of columns over her left shoulder. The mother is seated and wears a long, flowing blue gown with lace around the collar and at the ends of her sleeves. Her dark hair is pulled up and decorated with beads. A beaded jewel hangs from the bowknot at the collar of the dress. Below this is another jewel with four beads. Her left arm is wrapped around the child. Her right hand holds a book open. The letters "JHB" are written at the top of the left-hand page.

The child stands at his/her mother's side, with the mother's left arm around the child. In the child's right hand is a pencil and the left hand rests on the left page of the open book. The child has short blond hair, dark eyes, and his/her head is turned toward the viewer. He/She wears a white robe with a red jewel on the left shoulder. A red cord wraps around the child's waist and has two red tassels on the end.

Provenance Narrative
The dealer who sold this portrait to the Museum purchased it from Mrs. George Edward Weaver, Jr., of Huntingdon, PA. She received it from a "Mrs. Bigelow of Brattle Street, Cambridge Boston." The portrait hung in her Cape Cod country house as the subjects were members of her husband's family. The sitters are believed to be a Mrs. Brown and her son, Joseph Henry Brown. Joseph later married into the Bigelow family and thus the painting descended to the Boston/Cape Cod family.

Place Made
England or United States