Martha Round Caldwell
1798-1803
Medium
mezzotint and engraving in black on wove paper mounted to brown wove paper
Dimensions
image (irregular): 5.56 × 5.56 cm (2 3/16 × 2 3/16 in.) sheet (trimmed to plate): 6.67 × 6.19 cm (2 5/8 × 2 7/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran)
Accession Number
2015.19.1584.10.5
Art Historical Context
**Martha Round Caldwell** (1798–1803) by Charles B. J Févret de Saintémin captures the refined likeness of a woman in the young American republic. Saint-Mémin, a engraver who fled the Revolution and settled in Philadelphia around 3, specialized in intimate profile portraits. This small print, from the Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art reflects the era's fascination with personal commemoration amid post-Revolutionary optimism and social mobility. Crafted in mezzotint and engraving on wove paper, the work showcases Saint-Mémin's innovative technique. He used a physiognotrace—a ...
About the Artist
Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin
**Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin** Born on March 12, 1770, in Dijon, France, to marquis Bénigne-Charles Févret de Saint-Mémin, a former conseiller au Parlement de Bourgogne, and Victoire-Marie de Motmans, a creole from Port-au-Prince, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin received a military education at the École Militaire in Paris, graduating in 1785. He served as a cad...