Portrait of Abigail Erving (Mrs. George Scott, 1733–1768)

Public Domain

En lire plusFavori

Images(2)

Artist Joseph Blackburn(English, ca. 1730–ca. 1778, active in America)English, ca. 1730–ca. 1778, active in America

CultureAmerican

Titles

Portrait of Abigail Erving (Mrs. George Scott, 1733–1768)

Date1760

PlaceBoston, Massachusetts, United States

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsCanvas: 50 × 39 3/4 in. (127 × 101 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Theta Charity Antiques Show

Object numberB.2016.4

Current Location

The Audrey Jones Beck Building

106 Cameron Gallery

Exposé

Explore Further

Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PAINTING

DescriptionAbigail Erving was the daughter of a wealthy Boston merchant family. Her portrait was painted just after her marriage in 1759 to British army officer George Scott, who commanded Massachusetts troops during the French and Indian War. English-born artist Joseph Blackburn’s portrait of Abigail Erving Scott encapsulates the sophisticated style of painting he brought to the American colonies from Great Britain. Blackburn places his subject a twilight parkland. Wearing an elegant white silk gown adorned with pearls and white lace, she holds a straw hat in her right hand and carries a basket of delicate roses in the left. Striding forward as her sash flutters behind, Abigail glances briefly at the viewer with a look of calmness and confidence.
ProvenanceThe sitter; bequeathed to John Erving 5th (1855–1917); to his daughter, Sarah Erving King, 1917; Cornelia Abbot Ames (Erving descendant); [Carl Stinson Auction House, Reading, Massachusetts, December 2013, lot 228]; [Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York]; [Copake Auction, Copake, New York, May 16, 2015, lot 27]; [Alexander Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2016.
Exhibition History"The Hudson–Fulton Celebration Exhibition," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, September–November 1909.

"Theta Charity Antiques Show," George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, November 14–19, 2018.
Published References Theodore Bolton and Henry Lorin Binsse, "An American Artist of Formula: Joseph Blackburn. The Second in a Series Dealing with American Portrait Painters and Including a Catalogue of the Artist's Works," The Antiquarian, vol. 15, no. 5 (November 1930): pp. 50–53, 88, 90–92. Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission, New York, and Edward Hagaman Hall, The Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 1909: The Fourth Annual Report of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission to the Legislature of the State of New York...(Albany, NY: Printed for the State of New York by J.B. Lyon Company, 1910), p. 6. Lawrence Park, "Joseph Blackburn: Portrait Painter," Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 32, no. 2 (October 1922): p. 314. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Printed labels with additional inscriptions in ink on verso:

LOAN / _______ / 150.1949

( Hudson - Fulton ) / The Metropolitan Museum of Art. / Mr. John Erving ? (illegible)

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.