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(American, 1806–1873)
(American, 1817–1884 (active 1837–1856))

Young Boy Holding a Bow and Arrow with a Drum on the Floor

by 1856
Oil on canvas
Image: 41 5/16 x 34 3/4 in. (104.9 x 88.3 cm)
Frame: 49 9/16 x 42 15/16 x 4 3/4 in. (125.9 x 109.1 x 12.1 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1992.123
SignedUnsigned
Interpretation
Young Boy Holding a Bow and Arrow with a Drum on the Floor is a likeness of an unidentified well-dressed child proudly displaying typical boys’ playthings as he stands in a simple interior space defined by a bare wood plank floor and unadorned back wall. The drum on the floor and bow and stick “arrow” in the figure’s hands suggest the martial play of youth and male qualities of discipline, courage, and vigor to which the boy aspires, as indicated in his direct gaze, alert expression, and upright stance. However, his carefully arranged curls and “feminine” attire—short, fancy dress over lacy bodice and pantaloons—indicate that the child is young enough to be still in the maternal sphere of influence: not until the age of five or six did a boy in the nineteenth century begin to wear distinctly masculine clothing.

William Matthew Prior was a prolific artist who worked in a wide range of styles determined by the tastes and means of his patrons. Sturtevant J. Hamblen (or Hamblin), his brother-in-law and pupil and later junior partner, was one of four artist brothers who were third-generation decorative painters. Prior and Hamblen were adaptable practitioners who regarded their portrait practice as a business rather than a means for personal self-expression. They drew from a stock of conventions, symbolic props, and even costumes to deliver a “likeness” that recorded a customer’s social and economic standing and flattered his aspirations for status, rather than revealing his unique personality and actual physical appearance. The mask-like impassivity of the boy in this portrait reflects the values of Prior and Hamblin’s provincial New England customers, for whom a portrait served as both an icon of social and familial position and a purely decorative object, pleasing the eye through vivid colors and patterns.

Like Prior's Double Portrait of Mary Cary and Susan Elizabeth Johnson (TF 1992.122), also in the Terra Foundation collection, Young Boy Holding a Bow and Arrow with a Drum on the Floor represents the middle ground in Prior's work between his relatively naturalistic portraits, influenced by American painter Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828), and his simplest "flat" likenesses, without shading or modeling, for which he offered a discount. By placing the figure within a setting, however bare, Prior suggests an illusion of three-dimensional reality continued in the simple modeling of the face and limbs and the shadows cast by the dress on the pantaloons. Plain, smooth surfaces, such as the pantaloon legs, the boy's bare arms and chest, and the drum top, are juxtaposed against elaborately detailed areas of rhythmic pattern: the boy's curls, his striped lace bodice, the white ribbon embroidery on his green dress, and the tension cords that encircle the drum. These features suggest that the subject's family was relatively well-to-do and familiar with some of the attributes of more academic portraiture.
ProvenanceThe artist
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1984
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1992
Exhibition History
Two Centuries of American Folk Painting, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, February 10–April 21, 1985.

Selections from the Permanent Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, July 19–September 14, 1985.

Nineteenth Century Genre Painting from The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, November 15, 1985–January 12, 1986.

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1992.

Domestic Bliss: Family Life in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–June 22, 1997.

American Classics: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 26–September 1, 2002.

A Rich Simplicity: Folk Art from the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 7–September 21, 2003.

Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe (Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004. [exh. cat.]

Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940 (Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France and Miedzynarodowe Centrum Kultury (International Cultural Center), Crakow, Poland (organizers). Venue: International Cultural Center, Crakow, Poland, February 15–May 7, 2006. [exh. cat.]

Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, NY and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL (organizers). Venues: National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China, February 9–April 5, 2007; Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China, April 30–June 30, 2007; Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, April 30–June 30, 2007. (Shanghai presentations ran concurrently); The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, July 23–September 9, 2007; Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain, October 15, 2007–April 27, 2008. [exh. cat.]
Published References
Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-15, p. 124 (color).

Portrait of Young Boy Holding Bow and Arrow with Drum on the Floor, William Matthew Prior and Sturtevant J. Hamblin. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1992. Ill. (black & white).

Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Faces of America: Portraits of the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text pp. 13, 33 (checklist); fig. 2, p. 14 (color).

Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Visages de l'Amérique: le portrait dans la collection de la Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text pp. 13, 33 (checklist); fig. 2, p. 14 (color).

Lévy, Sophie, et al. Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940/Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940. (exh. cat. International Cultural Center). Cracow, Poland: International Cultural Center, 2006. Text p.16; ill. p. 59 (color).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation. (exh. cat., National Museum of China, Beijing; Shanghai Museum). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Chinese and English version; citing English version). Text p. 96; ill. p. 113 (color).

Art In America: 300 years of Innovation. Hong Kong: Wen Wei Publishing Co. Ltd, 2007. (in Chinese) Ill. p. 42 (color).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation. (exh. cat., The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Russian version). Ill. p. 69 (color).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in the USA: 300 años de innovación. (exh. cat., Guggenheim Museum Bilbao). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Spanish version). Ill. p. 79 (color).