Edward Jaquelin Jr. (Primary Title)
Attributed to, Nehemiah Partridge, American, 1683 - 1730 (Artist)
In the early 18th century, affluent British Americans desired portraits of themselves and their loved ones, and a small but growing number of artists – both native born and émigré, trained and self-taught – supplied them. Among the portraitists were itinerant limners (traveling painters) who journeyed throughout the colonies in search of work.
Nehemiah Partridge, a self-taught painter who worked primarily in New England, is believed to have produced these lively portraits. Arriving in Virginia about 1722, he resided in the Jamestown households of Edward Jacquelin and William Brodnax, where he captured the images of more than a dozen family members. Like other provincial limners on both sides of the Atlantic, Partridge found inspiration for his costumes, poses, and backgrounds in British prints.
The period frame on the portrait at right has been “japanned” – painted black, like the striking high chest nearby. While there is no documentation that Partridge made the frame, which is of an age and style appropriate to the painting, he is known to have been a japanner of furniture. In colonial America, the distinction between “art” and “decoration” was fluid.
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