American Furniture and Decorative Arts

On View: West Building, Ground Floor

24 artworks on view.

Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a satin or silk shell-pink gown and a greenish-yellow cloak looks at us, slightly smiling, through an oval opening in this vertical portrait painting. Her shoulders angle slightly to our left, and her oval-shaped face turns slightly to the right. She cuts her dark gray eyes cut to the side to look at us from under arched brows. Her nose drops a little at the end, and her thin, pink lips are closed. Her dark brown hair is pulled up and woven with dark pearls reaching back from the temples. Curls fall down her back, and one rests over her left shoulder, to our right. The tightly fitting bodice has low curved neckline lined with lace. Short sleeves embellished with pewter-gray buttons or bosses overlap longer white sleeves. The bodice is open down the front to show the white undergarment and is tied with two pale yellow bows, one over the other. The cloak falls heavily in deep folds from her shoulders and is held in place with a strip of fabric lined at intervals with pairs of dark silver beads. The ribbon is affixed to the cloak with a red brooch at the woman’s right shoulder, to our left, and it stretches down and across her body. She stands in front of a dark blue, cloudy sky. The painted frame through which she looks is camel brown. The artist signed the front-facing, beveled edge of the oval frame: “I.S. Copley. Pinx. 1756.”

Jane Browne

John Singleton Copley

1756

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1942.8.2

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G43

This painting is a portrait showing the upper torso and head of a man turned slightly to the right. The man is looking at us with a neutral expression. His facial features include pale skin, a high forehead, dark eyebrows, and dark hair styled with waves and curls around his temples. He is wearing a black coat over a white shirt. The shirt is adorned with a white cravat wrapped around his neck, visible above the coat's collar. The background is a brown shade, and the painting is marked with the initials "TS" and "1834" at the bottom left corner.

Francis Hopkinson

Thomas Sully

1834

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1942.8.33

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

John Randolph

Gilbert Stuart

1804/1805

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1940.1.9

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

The head and shoulders of a man with light skin and gray hair nearly fills this vertical portrait painting. Shown against a peanut-brown background, the man’s shoulders are angled to our left, and he looks off to our right with blue eyes. His gray hair curls around his forehead and over his ears. His bushy gray eyebrows gather over a furrowed brow, and sideburns grow down past his earlobes. His long, straight, slightly hooked nose and high cheekbones are set into his long, oval-shaped face. His pink lips are closed over a rounded chin, which is framed by vertical wrinkles. The white edge of a collar peeks above the high neck of a velvety black garment with wide lapels. The area beneath the man’s shoulders is a dark ivory color, perhaps indicating that this painting is unfinished.

Andrew Jackson

Thomas Sully

1845

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1942.8.34

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

Shown from the chest up, an older man with pale, peachy skin, wearing a high-collared black coat and a cream-white, ruffled collar, is shown against a deep wine-red background in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled to our right, and he turns his face to look at us with gray eyes under pale gray eyebrows. He has a hooked nose and jowls along his chin line. His cheeks are flushed, and his lips are set in a line. His white hair flares out along the sides of his head and is tied at the nape of his neck with a ribbon loosely painted and outlined with black. His ink-black coat has silvery gray highlights along the high collar and his right shoulder, to our left. The background is painted with light brushstrokes, deepening from scarlet red around his face to black at the upper corners.

George Washington (Vaughan-Sinclair portrait)

Gilbert Stuart

1795

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1940.1.6

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

Shown from the hips up, a light-skinned woman with deeply flushed cheeks sits in an armchair, looking at us from under raised and pointed eyebrows in this vertical portrait painting. Her body is angled to our right but she turns to look at us with dark eyes lined with a few wrinkles. She has a long, pointed nose, slightly sagging jowls, and her thin, pale pink lips are pressed together in a line. Ringlets of chestnut-brown hair curl onto her forehead from under a frilly white bonnet that frames her face. The bonnet is tied with a wide, white ribbon around the top. The woman’s beet-red gown is cut low but her chest is covered with opaque white fabric that reaches to the frilled collar high on her neck. A sheer white shawl decorated with a pattern of scrolling, stylized leaves and vines drapes across her shoulders. Her right hand, closer to us, rests in her lap. The chair fills the width of the painting, and the woman almost fills the height. The arm of the chair is edged in wood, and the upholstery is patterned with mustard yellow, harvest gold, and tawny brown. The background lightens from dark brown in the upper left corner to tan in the lower right.

Abigail Smith Adams (Mrs. John Adams)

Gilbert Stuart

1800/1815

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1954.7.2

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

This painting is a portrait of a woman. She is seated on a red chair with gold studs along its edges, positioned with her arms crossed over her lap, slightly turned to the left. The woman's facial features include a fair complexion with rosy cheeks, slightly smiling lips, and large, dark eyes. Her brown hair is curly and voluminous, adorned with a pearl band and a light blue ribbon visible towards the back. Her clothing consists of a long-sleeved white dress with a ruffled neckline, cinched in the waist by a light greenish-blue sash. The background is a plain, muted green tone, with a light color on the left indicating a partially visible door or paneling.

Matilda Caroline Cruger

American 18th Century

c. 1795

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1942.8.13

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

This painting is a portrait of a man. He is seated on a red cushioned chair, turned slightly to the left, facing us. He has a pale complexion and a neutral expression, with dark eyebrows, rosy cheeks, and thin lips. His hair is gray, with curls falling to the sides around his ears. He is dressed in formal attire, wearing a dark red, double-breasted coat with large golden button and a white cravat around his neck. The man holds a pair of tan gloves in his left hand, and in front of him is a piece of red furniture covered with a red cloth. The background is a muted brown gradient.

Stephen Van Rensselaer III

Gilbert Stuart

1793/1795

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1942.8.20

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

This painting shows a seated man from the waist up, his body turned slightly to the right and his head facing us. He has a round face with fair skin, rosy cheeks, and short, gray hair that curls around his ears. His thin lips are in a neutral expression. The man wears a dark blue coat with gold buttons over a white, high-collared shirt and a cream-colored vest. In his right hand, he holds a white quill pen. His right arm is resting on a green-topped table or desk that is covered with a pile of folded letters or papers, one of which he seems to be writing on. The background is plain and dark brown.

Captain Joseph Anthony

Gilbert Stuart

1794

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1942.8.11

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned, clean-shaven man sits looking at us in front of a peanut-brown background in this vertical portrait painting. His shoulders are angled to our left, but he turns his head to look at us with blue eyes under dark, arched brows. He has a bumped nose, fleshy, flushed cheeks, loose jowls, and a round chin. He has bags under his eyes, crow’s feet, and his thin pink lips are parted. Gray hair curls like bushes to each side of his balding head, which is white across the top of his pate and down the long, bushy sideburns. He wears a high-collared white shirt with a ruffle at the throat under a similarly high-collared black coat. His left elbow, to our right and closer to us, rests on the arm of a wooden armchair. That hand rests in a loose fist in front of the man’s waist, and the cuff is lined with white lace.

John Adams

Gilbert Stuart

c. 1800/1815

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1954.7.1

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

This painting depicts the upper half of a woman's body. She is turned slightly to the left and faces us, with pale skin, soft, rosy cheeks, dark brown eyes, and a neutral expression. She has curly brown hair that is in an updo, with small curls framing her forehead. She is wearing a short-sleeved black dress with a square, lace-trimmed neckline, and has a bright red shawl draped over her shoulders. The background is a solid dark brown color.

Ann Calvert Stuart Robinson (Mrs. William Robinson)

Gilbert Stuart

c. 1804

Oil on wood Accession ID 1942.8.22

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

The image shows a man seated, turned slightly to the left, looking directly at the viewer. He has fair skin, light-colored eyes, and dark brown wavy hair with sideburns reaching his jawline. He wears a black coat with a high collar over a white shirt. He sits near an easel with a sketch visible, holding a palette and paintbrushes in his left hand. The background has draped fabric in red or brown shades.

James P. Smith

Jacob Eichholtz

c. 1835

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1947.17.4

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42