Victorian Oval Portrait, Oil on Board — Original Gilt Frame, Documented 19th Century Provenance
Victorian Oval Portrait, Oil on Board — Original Gilt Frame, Documented 19th Century Provenance
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A face that has held its composure for well over a century.
She is painted half-length, dressed in dark mourning-weight fabric with a lace day cap and a fichu tied at the throat, secured with a hairwork brooch — the small glazed compartment holding a braided lock of hair that Victorian women commonly wore to keep a loved one close. It is an easy detail to overlook, and the one that gives this portrait its quiet particularity.
The painting is oil on board, retained in its original oval giltwood frame with gesso ornament and a beaded liner — well-suited to a well-appointed 19th century parlor. What distinguishes this piece further is documentation rarely found intact after this much time.
Taped to the frame’s backing are two period records: a handwritten note reading “Given to Sidney Morgan Shea from the Estate of his Great-Uncle James B. Morgan Jr., May 1916,” and a label from the J.J. Gillespie Company Fine Art Galleries of Pittsburgh — America’s oldest fine art gallery, founded in 1832 and still operating today. Gillespie was the preeminent art establishment of western Pennsylvania in its era, the firm wealthy Pittsburgh families relied on for paintings, framing, and restoration. Its label places this portrait’s handling within a well-documented lineage.
Her name isn’t recorded here. But the evidence that survives — the brooch, the note, the gallery label — tells us she was valued enough to be kept, passed down, and remembered, intact after more than a century and a half.
Details:
• Oil on board, oval format
• Original giltwood frame with gesso ornament, 19½ x 16½ inches framed
• Hairwork mourning/sentiment brooch depicted at collar
• Handwritten provenance note taped to frame backing, dated May 1916, naming the estate of James B. Morgan Jr., given to his great-nephew Sidney Morgan Shea
• Gallery label taped to frame backing: J.J. Gillespie Company Fine Art Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA
• Condition: No losses to glass. Painting shows no signs of paint or lacquer loss, having been protected by glass. Extremely minor losses to frame gilding.
The unusual over the ordinary.
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