Name/Title
Caroline and James StevensEntry/Object ID
1991.61.1Description
Diptych portraits showing a woman (left) and man (right), both wearing black and looking toward the viewer. The woman is wearing a black dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline and low-set sleeves. Her bodice is pleated into a v-shape with high point at the neckline. She is also wearing a transparent shawl or stole. Her dark hair is parted in the center and held in a high bun. The man is shown wearing a black, three piece suit, a white suit with a high collar, and black cravat. His brown hair is parted on the side and swept across. His left hand rests on the back of a wooden chair.
The lustrous, burl wood frame is carved into an ogee shape with a flat divider between the two paintings.Type of Painting
EaselArtwork Details
Medium
OilSubject Person
Stevens, James Wellington (1815-1870), Stevens, Caroline Dustan (1817-1881)Context
James and Caroline Stevens lived in Craftsbury, Vermont, where James worked as a cabinetmaker.
Label from an exhibit:
"Painted by Horace Bundy in 1838.
James Stevens (1815-1870), a cabinetmaker who worked in Craftsbury, Vermont, made the frame around the two portraits. Caroline Dustin Stevens (1817-1881) married James Stevens in 1838 and it is believed the paintings were commissioned to celebrate that occasion.
Born in Hardwick, Vermont, Horace Bundy (1814-1883) apparently had no formal training as an artist, though he did work as a carriage painter early in his life. He spent much of his career in Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York, traveling the area as an artist and Adventist preacher."Acquisition
Accession
1991.61Source or Donor
Waldo, Elizabeth C.Acquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Bundy, Horace (1814-1883)Role
PainterArtist
Stevens, James Wellington (1815-1870)Attribution
LikelyDate made
circa 1840Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
PortraitNomenclature Primary Object Term
PaintingNomenclature Primary Object Term
PictureNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Dimension Description
UnframedHeight
27 inWidth
23 inDimension Description
FramedHeight
36-1/4 inWidth
56-1/4 inDepth
2-3/4 inRelationships
Related Places
Place
Town
CraftsburyCounty
Orleans CountyState/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaRelated Publications
Publication
Horace Bundy: Itinerant PortraitistInterpretative Labels
Label
James and Caroline Stevens, c. 1840
Horace Bundy (1814-1883)
Craftsbury, VT
Oil on canvas
Gift of Elizabeth C. Waldo, #A-621
James Stevens (1816-1870) was cabinet maker in Craftsbury, Vermont. His account book, in the collection of VHS, indicates that he made frames for Horace Bundy. It's very probable that Stevens made this frame.
Born in Hardwick, Vermont, Horace Bundy traveled throughout New England painting portraits until he was called to the ministry in the 1850s. His paintings are always signed in big, flowery letters on the back on the canvas.