Items Similar to American Portrait Miniature of a Woman in a White Gown, Thomas Story Officer

Miniature Portrait of a Distinguished Lady, Signed Stieler

Miniature with female subject, watercolor on ivory, France 1800.

19th C. Portrait of Young Lady Manner of George Chinnery 'English', Oil on Board

Antique Miniature Hand Painted Portrait Jeweled Nobel Woman Painting Gilt Frame

Antique Miniature Watercolor Painting Portrait of a Woman Neoclassical Frame

Antique Hand Painted Miniature Portrait on Porcelain in a Brass Easel Frame

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 5

American Portrait Miniature of a Woman in a White Gown, Thomas Story Officer

$9,000

£6,880.98

€7,925.50

CA$12,611.76

A$14,079.84

CHF 7,377.63

MX$172,351.10

NOK 93,695.93

SEK 88,343.36

DKK 59,148.81

Shipping

Retrieving quote...

The 1stDibs Promise:

Authenticity Guarantee,

Money-Back Guarantee,

24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

American portrait miniature by Thomas Story Officer, Woman in a White Gown, Signed "T.S. Officer, Pinxt", The 1830s The American portrait miniature signed by Thomas Story Officer depicts a beautiful young woman, her red hair “Coeffure a la Chinoise”, sitting in a red chair confidently looking out towards the painter and us, the viewers. She wears a white dress with a pin in the center of her chest. Based on her style of dress and her hair, we believe this was painted while Officer was in Philadelphia. It is signed to the lower right "T.S. Officer, Pinxt" along at edge. The reverse has a small oval glass Dimensions: 3 inches high x 2 3/16 inches wide x 1/4 inch deep Reference: Thomas S. Officer: Miniature and Portrait Painter, Gardner Library, Author: Merri Lou Schaumann. Born in Carlisle in 1810, this gifted artist trained in Philadelphia, traveled extensively and won awards for his paintings. In 1872, James Miller McKim wrote a series of reminiscences for the Carlisle Herald newspaper about the places and people of Carlisle in an earlier day. He wrote that “David Smith, a boot and shoemaker, had two sons… one of whom early developed a taste for art and finally devoted himself to miniature painting as a profession. He was a contemporary, and for a while, a rival of Mr. Thomas Officer, though I believe he never reached the celebrity attained by that gifted young artist. Mr. Officer, by the way, was one of the last miniature painters of any eminence produced by this country, the daguerreotype and photographer having come in to sweep away the entire profession.” Thomas Story Officer was born in Carlisle on August 15, 1810, to cabinetmaker John Officer and his second wife Margaret. He trained in Philadelphia with the well-known portrait painter Thomas Sully and began his career there in the 1830s. Officer left Philadelphia occasionally to paint portraits in Mobile, Alabama in 1837, in Richmond, Virginia in 1845, and in New York City from 1846-1849 where he became a member of the National Academy of Design. In 1842, Officer intended to travel to Mexico and needed a passport. He asked Attorney Charles B. Penrose, formerly of Carlisle, to write a letter of recommendation for him. In his letter to Fletcher Webster, Esq., Penrose wrote, “This will be handed to you by Thomas S. Officer, Esq., a friend of mine, and a native artist of Pennsylvania, who is a gentleman of great talents and respectability. Intending to visit Mexico, he wishes to procure passports at the State Department…” Officer was issued a passport in July 1842. He was described as 30 years old, 5’ 11” with a “full and round forehead, bluish-gray eyes, an ordinary nose, medium mouth, ordinary chin, sallow complexion with an oval face and brown hair.” Officer went to Mexico and later to Australia. In 1854, he opened a studio in Sandridge, Australia, and while there he “entered several oil portraits in the 1854 Melbourne Exhibition preparatory to sending them to the 1855 Paris Exhibition.” Officer left Australia, and in 1855 he settled in San Francisco where he would spend the last years of his life. He set up a portrait painting department in James Johnson’s photographic gallery in San Francisco. In 1857, Officer received a bronze medal for his oil portraits exhibited at The First Industrial Exhibition of the Mechanics’ Institute of San Francisco, as well as awards at several other exhibits in 1858. A short piece in the San Francisco newspaper, Alta, on October 30, 1859, read, “Mr. Thomas S. Officer, the talented portrait painter, lies near to death’s door and is in pecuniary distress. Out of the many to whose pleasure he has contributed by his gay, social manners, as well as by his pleasing artistic productions, may there not be found someone who will extend a helping hand?” Officer died on December 8, 1859. Almost an entire column in the January 18, 1860 edition of the Carlisle Herald, was devoted to a very long and informative obituary of Officer taken from the Alta, California newspaper. Officer was buried in the now defunct Lone Mountain Cemetery in San Francisco. In 2014, the Cumberland County Historical Society received a bequest of a portrait painted by Thomas Officer from the estate of historian John J. Snyder, Jr. It joined a miniature portrait already a part of the Society’s museum collection in Carlisle, not far from where Officer was born. Notes: The May 28, 1834 edition of the Carlisle Weekly Herald reported that Thomas S. Officer had "...within the last few weeks, taken the portraits of several gentlemen of this borough...Mr. O. is principally self-taught, and although young, already evinced a degree of taste, judgment, and talent..." A short biography of Officer can also be found in Early American Portrait Painters in Miniature by Theodore Bolton, published by F. F. Sherman (New York, 1921). The entire book is one line Bio. of Officer on page 117. See Officer’s portrait of a lady painted c. 1850 in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute of Art.

Dimensions:
Height: 2.5 in (6.35 cm)Width: 2 in (5.08 cm)Depth: 0.25 in (6.35 mm)
Style:
American Empire (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Ivory
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1830-1839
Date of Manufacture:
1830s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Downingtown, PA
Reference Number:
Seller: NY9919-knrr1stDibs: LU861030839282

Terracotta Portrait Plaque of a Nobleman with Order of the Garter

$1,250

Regency Silk and Wool Picture of Mother and Her Children, after John Hoppner RA

By Sir John Hoppner

Located in Downingtown, PA

Superb large English silk and wool portrait, A Mother and Her Four Children, after John Hoppner R.A., circa 1810-20, Within gilt frame. Silk over linen fabric ground, silk floss, worsted wool yarn, Merino wool yarn and oil paint. A remarkable silk picture with painted sky background and each figure with a painted face and hands with the remaining portions of the picture finished in wool. The design comes from a mezzotint after John Hoppner made in the 1790s. John Hoppner specialized in painting mothers and children. The picture depicts a large standing female figure dressed in a white dress and wearing a turban. She stands by two classical columns with her four children in front of her. The youngest child is sitting on the ground playing with her red shoe in her hands with a tambourine by her side. Her elder sister stands behind her. Both girls are dressed in Empire-style muslin dresses...

Category

Antique 19th Century English Georgian Decorative Art

Materials

Wool, Silk

Regency Silk and Wool Picture of Mother and Her Children, after John Hoppner RA

$10,000

Large Marine Painting of the Frigate Essex by Will Robedee

Located in Downingtown, PA

The Frigate Essex, Signed Will B. Robedee Painted September 30, 1976, Oil on Canvas on Board, The large framed painting on canvas applied to board depicts the Frigate Essex. The Es...

Category

Vintage 1970s American American Classical Decorative Art

Materials

Paint

Located in San Diego, CA

A very nice antique hand-painted miniature portrait on porcelain of Princess Louise of England, circa 1900s. The piece is mostly likely a "Grand Tour" ...

Category