George Lyttleton Upshur

Status

Not on view

Label Text

This miniature is believed to depict George Lyttleton Upshur, a descendant of Martha Washington through her second granddaughter, Martha Parke Custis Peter. Upshur wrote a memoir of his life, AS I RECALL THEM: MEMORIES OF CROWDED YEARS, which was published in 1936, and details not only his extended family, but his association with the Rockefellers, Morgans, and other prominent families of the late 19th and early 20th century. As it was likely created in the early 20th century, this miniature is an interesting example of the continuing use of an art form which had been so prevalent before the advent of photography.

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Datec. 1900

Subject George Lyttleton Upshur (American, 1856 - 1938)

Geography Made - United States

Medium/TechniqueWatercolor on ivory; wood, glass, gilded metal

DimensionsOther (Image inside frame): 3 in. × 2 1/2 in. (7.62 cm × 6.35 cm) Overall (Including case): 4 1/8 in. × 2 7/8 in. × 5/16 in. (10.48 cm × 7.3 cm × 0.79 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Lyttleton B. P. Gould, Jr., M. Chapin Krech, Dr. Shepard Krech, Alvin W. Krech, Peter Chapin, Charles Chapin, and Mrs. Charles Merrill Chapin III, in memory of Esther Maria Lewis Chapin, 1986 Conservation courtesy of The Founders, Washington Committee Endowment Fund

Object numberM-3049

DescriptionAn oval, bust-length miniature in polychrome watercolors of a male figure. The sitter is shown in profile and facing the proper left. He wears a black coat with prominent lapels, a white shirt with upturned collar, dark blue vest and dark necktie. His white hair is short and he has a high forehead and a full white moustache. The face is round and stippled, and the blue eyes appear hooded.

The ground is polychromatic--in colors of blue, green, ochre and warm brown--and fully encircles the subject.

The miniature is encased in a decorative easel-style mount. A piece of taupe fabric printed with a floral pattern in red and blue covers the reverse of the miniature and the backing is held in in place by metal prongs. (This frame is very similar to that of the Binati portrait of Nelly Custis Lewis, M-2954, and was likely created at the same time.)

Published ReferencesGeorge Lyttleton Upshur, As I Recall Them: Memories of Crowded Years (New York: Wilson-Erickson Inc., 1936).

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