Object Details
Artist
John Singleton Copley, born Boston, MA 1738-died 1815 London, England
Sitter
Elizabeth Oliver Watson
Mrs. George Watson
Gallery Label
Mrs. Watson, the wife of a wealthy Boston merchant, wears a fashionably low-cut gown of luscious satin and white lace and holds a porcelain vase that echoes the contours of her figure. The yards of expensive fabric and silk ribbons in the costume testified to George Watson's success as an importer of European goods, as did the fact that he could afford to commission a portrait from Boston's foremost painter. Mrs. Watson showed herself to colonial society as a fashionable English matron, but her direct gaze suggests the grit and character of a new American society that would emerge within ten years.
Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Partial gift of Henderson Inches, Jr., in honor of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Inches, and museum purchase made possible in part by Mr. and Mrs. R. Crosby Kemper through the Crosby Kemper Foundation; the American Art Forum; and the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Date
1765
Object number
1991.189
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
49 7/8 x 40 in. (126.7 x 101.6 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Dress\historic\eighteenth century dress
Object\other\vase
Object\flower\tulip
Portrait female\knee length
Portrait female\knee length
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_1991.189