Mrs. Abijah Cheever (Elizabeth Scott)

Art Historical Context

Nestled in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum Art, *Mrs. Abijah Cheever (Elizabeth Scott)* a delicate watercolor miniature on ivory by Nathaniel Hancock, around 1795. Measuring just 1 15/16 x 1 1/2 inches, this tiny portrait exemplifies the intimate art of the Federal period, when such works were cherished as personal keepsakes—often worn as jewelry, pinned to clothing, or housed lockets to keep loved ones close. Hancock, a skilled American miniaturist, captured Elizabeth Scott, wife of Abijah Che, with fine brushwork that highlights the watercolor's translucent qualities on the smo...