Name/Title
Woman Holding Small BookEntry/Object ID
1964.59.19Description
Portrait of a dark-haired woman holding a small, red book. She is shown with rosy cheeks, brown eyes, and high lips. Her lustrous, brown hair is parted down the center, falling into ringlets at the side and held in a small white cap at the back. She is wearing a wide-sleeved black dress and large, white capelet with a broad falling collar. Both the collar and hem of the capelet are trimmed with fringe, and the center front neckline is held with what appears to be a rectangular mourning brooch.Type of Painting
EaselContext
Found in Clarendon, VermontAcquisition
Accession
1964.59Source or Donor
Eddy, Henry Howard (1899-1965)Acquisition Method
GiftSource (if not Accessioned)
Eddy, Henry Howard (1899-1965)Made/Created
Artist
Fletcher, Aaron DeanDate made
1835Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
PaintingNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Dimension Description
UnframedHeight
27-1/2 inWidth
23-3/4 inDimension Description
FramedHeight
32-3/4 inWidth
29 inDepth
3 inRelationships
Related Places
Place
Town
ClarendonCounty
Rutland CountyState/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaInterpretative Labels
Label
Unfortunately the identity of the woman in the portrait is unknown. The four portraits in this family group were found in the Chippenhook section of Clarendon and the family was probably from that area. The details in the portraits provide some information about the sitters. They are dressed and coiffed in a stylish yet restrained manner. The woman is wearing some gold jewelry, fashionable for the time, and appears to be holding a small book, probably of psalms.
Aaron Dean Fletcher (1817-1902) was born in Springfield, Vermont. He was self-taught and began his career in the Springfield area painting neighbors and friends from 1835 to 1839. By 1840 he had moved to Keeseville, New York. The Chippenhook portraits may have been painted by Fletcher on his way to New York. They have his characteristic olive background and black outlining of figures. Like many itinerant artists of the time, Fletcher traveled west to Indiana in 1856, but returned after a year to New York, where he continued to earn a meager living as an artist. He died in Keeseville in 1902. The frames are modern reproductions