Photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a slide. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Mary Chew Elliott

Artist Charles Willson Peale (American, 1741-1827)

Date1787

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions36 1/8 x 27 1/2 in. (91.8 x 69.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 43 x 34 x 3 1/2 in. (109.2 x 86.4 x 8.9 cm)

ClassificationsAmerican art

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Frank Batten

Object number63.112.1

Terms

Woman
Mary Chew Elliott
Tan
Brown
Gray
Orange
Pink
Black
Blue
Baltimore, Md?

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas, half-length portrait of an older woman wearing a bonnet and patterned cashmere shawl. She holds gold-rimmed spectacles in her right hand and a case for them in her left. A book with rests on the table beside her; lettering on the spine spells _Harvy's Meditatio_.

Label TextCharles Willson Peale American, 1741—1827 Mary Chew Elliott, 1787 Oil on canvas Mary O’Donnell, 1791 Oil on canvas Sarah Chew Elliott O’Donnell, 1787 Oil on canvas This group of portraits depicts three generations of women from the same wealthy Baltimore family in a manner that highlights both their elevated social status and embodiment of ideal virtues ascribed to upper-class women in eighteenth-century America. While the elder Mary Chew Elliot appears restrained in an elegant but simple domestic setting, her daughter Sarah O’Donnell’s portrait signals her worldly sophistication by including a neoclassical backdrop, reminiscent of British portraiture. Meanwhile, the young Mary O’Donnell grasps a pair of cherries, a common symbol of youthful innocence, while an opulent teething rattle made of coral and gold dangles from her sash. Gifts of Mrs. Frank Batten 63.112.1, 61.91.1, and 62.94.1