Object Details
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
Description
Stephen Ferris made this pencil portrait of his mother from memory in 1890. She had died in 1848 near Yorkville, Illinois, after the birth of her fourteenth child, when Ferris was a boy of thirteen. Contrary to a contemporary biography’s claim that he was orphaned at ten, Ferris belonged to a large family which became even larger with his father’s remarriage. As a boy Ferris lived with a maternal uncle who offered him a chance to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia from the age of seventeen.
Credit Line
Mrs. J. L. Gerome Ferris
date made
1898
ID Number
GA.16646
catalog number
16646
accession number
119780
Object Name
drawing
drawing
Other Terms
drawing; Pencil
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
graphite (overall material)
Measurements
image: 10 cm x 9 cm; 3 15/16 in x 3 9/16 in
sheet: 23.5 cm x 16.5 cm; 9 1/4 in x 6 1/2 in
Place Made
United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
See more items in
Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
Ferris Collection
Communications
Art
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Portraits
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_818391