The Hercules Family

c. 1850

James Presley Ball

Associated Names
James Presley Ball

Artist, American, 1825 - 1904

The image shows a woman and three children, captured from the knees up. The woman is seated in the center, with one child standing on each side and another standing slightly behind her. The woman has dark, neatly parted hair, styled in smooth waves over her ears, with a composed expression. She wears a striped dress with lace details and a shawl-like garment on her shoulders. The two children on her left and right wear matching light pink dresses, have neatly combed hair, and wear dark, lacy gloves. The older boy behind the woman wears a suit with a white shirt and bow tie. The background is plain, and the portrait is in an ornate frame with intricate designs and a golden inner border.

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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

Article:  Rare Early Photographs of African American Life

A large collection of personal photographs offers a glimpse of Black entrepreneurship and self-expression in the 19th and 20th centuries.


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Ross Kelbaugh, Marriottsville, MD; NGA purchase, 2023.

Associated Names

Bibliography

2024

  • Greenough, Sarah. "Gifts and Acquisitions."Art for the Nation no. 68 (Spring 2024): 20, repro.

Inscriptions

on brass mat, lower left embossed: J. P. BALL; lower right embossed: CINCINNATI; by unknown hand, on paper attached to velvet lining inside of case in black ink: Mr. Christopher Hercules Sr. / Mother and Sisters, / Grandmother and / aunts of Elizabeth / and Emma Hercules. / 726 -W- Howard St. Pontiac.; by Ross Kelbaugh, top edge of case in black ink on applied sticker: 22.11. RALH; top edge: AF14C-1


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