Helen Cruikshank Davis
Portrait of Dorothy Dawes (Mrs. James H. Chillman, Jr., 1895–1968)

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Artist Helen Cruikshank Davis (American, 1889–1978)American, 1889–1978

CultureAmerican

Titles

Portrait of Dorothy Dawes (Mrs. James H. Chillman, Jr., 1895–1968)

Date1926

PlaceHouston, Texas, United States

MediumWatercolor on ivory

DimensionsFrame (outer): 5 1/2 × 4 1/2 × 1/2 in. (14 × 11.4 × 1.3 cm)
Frame (inner): 2 3/4 × 2 1/4 in. (7 × 5.7 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Helen Chillman

Object numberB.2015.16

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

MINIATURE (PORTRAITS)

DescriptionThis miniature depicts Dorothy Dawes Chillman (1895–1968) wearing a light blue shawl and a brooch pinned at the neckline of her dress. The background is light green and contains a foliate repeat pattern. Painted in watercolor on a thin disc of ivory, the artist skillfully portrayed Mrs. Chillman in thin washes that produce a soft, luminous effect. The style employed here and the treatment of the background as a flat, patterned space is in keeping with other American portrait miniatures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the portrait miniature was revived and adapted as an object of fine art. As such, the characteristics of the revival miniature portraits mirrored late-19th and early-20th-century developments in the broader art world, such as the popularity of James McNeill Whistler and the Arts and Crafts movement. The subtle inclusion of the foliate repeat pattern, an allusion to the decorative arts, is especially appropriate in this miniature, as Mrs. Chillman was an authority on design and taught at the Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris. A close friend and advisor of Miss Ima Hogg, at the time of her death she had been acting as a consultant for the Empire Suite at Bayou Bend, which was renamed the Chillman Suite in her honor.
ProvenanceDorothy Dawes Chillman, Houston; by descent to Helen Chillman; given to MFAH, 2015.
Exhibition History4th Annual Exhibition of Work by Houston Artists, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1928
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Verso: Inscribed in pen, on index card affixed to mat, center: Portrait of Dorothy Dawes Chillman c. 1924 / (Mrs. James Chillman Jr.) / by Louise Crittenden (?) / Houston artist / / DDC friend & asst. to Ima Hogg in developing Bayou Bend collection of Museum of Fine Arts of Houston / DDC 1895–1968

Verso: Label on frame, bottom center: Mr. Helen Chillman / 407 Whitney Ave Apt. 8 / New Haven, CT 06511

[no inscription on miniature]

Signed and dated: H. CRUIKSHANK DAVIS 1926

[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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