Woman in Black Dress
ca. 1835-1840
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Accession Number
1986.65.120
Tags
About this artwork
The identity of this sitter is unknown. On the eve of marriage, young women often had their portraits made, and this portrait likely marked that event. The woman wears a fine dress ornamented with an elaborate lace collar, and a gold and jade chain with a miniature painting hangs around her neck (Face to Face: M.W. Hopkins and Noah North, Museum of Our National Heritage, 1988). Her sober expression and elaborate hairstyle, worn âupâ as a matron would do, help to convey a sense of gravity at ...