William Mather Smith
ca. 1810
Medium
Painting-Miniature
Classification
Painting-Miniature
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Accession Number
1944.7.2
Tags
About this artwork
William Mather Smith (1787-1864) was the only son of Connecticut governor and congressman John Cotton Smith (1765-1845), of Sharon, Connecticut. William was a precocious boy, entering Yale at the age of twelve and graduating in the class of 1805. A lay preacher, Smith founded one of the nationâs first Sunday schools, which he ran for fifty years. He also conducted services in the Sharon church for three decades. This miniature was painted the year Smith married Helen Livingston, and was probab...
Art Historical Context
This delicate miniature portrait by Archibald Robertson captures William Mather Smith (1787–1864) in a bust-length format around 1810, showcasing the intimate scale and fine detail typical of early 19th-century American portrait miniatures. Often painted in watercolor on ivory, these small-scale works were prized as personal treasures, worn as jewelry or kept in cases for loved ones, reflecting the era's neoclassical elegance and status among the elite. Smith, the only son of Connecticut governor and congressman John Cotton Smith, was a remarkable prodigy who entered Yale at age twelve and gr...