Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1984
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
Exhibition History
Joseph H. Davis
(American, 1811–1865)
Samuel G. and Mary Vickery
1834
Watercolor over graphite selectively heightened with gum arabic on cream wove paper
Sheet: 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
Frame: 17 x 20 1/2 in. (43.2 x 52.1 cm)
Frame: 17 x 20 1/2 in. (43.2 x 52.1 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1999.36
InterpretationJoseph H. Davis’s double portrait presents a married pair in profile, seated facing one another across a table bearing a Bible and a bowl of flowers. Each holds a small, red-covered book, but any hint that their reading matter might be frivolous is dispelled by the gesture of the husband as he points to the open book of scripture. The figures gaze steadily at each other across a picture hung above the table: its depiction of a farmer reaping grain is as likely an invocation of the biblical metaphor of moral rewards and consequences as a reference to the sitter’s rural livelihood.
Samuel Gilman Vickery’s actual profession is unknown. He was born in 1774 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and in 1800 or 1801 married Mary Allen (born in 1783) in Wakefield, New Hampshire, near what would later be the center of Davis’s geographical range as an itinerant portraitist. Pictured here as an aging but still vital man, Vickery is shown with a kerchief tied over the crown of his head. This unusual indoor headdress suggests the casual attitude of a gentleman relaxing at home, a notion echoed in the books held by both husband and wife. Their elegant setting is, however, a stock one that Davis used repeatedly in his husband-and-wife portraits. These feature almost identical fashionable tables and chairs and vividly colored and patterned flooring. Davis varied his otherwise formulaic likenesses through careful attention to the details of his sitters' profiled features. His attempt thus to individualize his sitters is underscored in inscriptions that, in elaborate script and flourishes in the so-called Italian style, precisely identify the subjects of his formal portraits.
Samuel Gilman Vickery’s actual profession is unknown. He was born in 1774 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and in 1800 or 1801 married Mary Allen (born in 1783) in Wakefield, New Hampshire, near what would later be the center of Davis’s geographical range as an itinerant portraitist. Pictured here as an aging but still vital man, Vickery is shown with a kerchief tied over the crown of his head. This unusual indoor headdress suggests the casual attitude of a gentleman relaxing at home, a notion echoed in the books held by both husband and wife. Their elegant setting is, however, a stock one that Davis used repeatedly in his husband-and-wife portraits. These feature almost identical fashionable tables and chairs and vividly colored and patterned flooring. Davis varied his otherwise formulaic likenesses through careful attention to the details of his sitters' profiled features. His attempt thus to individualize his sitters is underscored in inscriptions that, in elaborate script and flourishes in the so-called Italian style, precisely identify the subjects of his formal portraits.
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1984
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
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.
Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1996–January 12, 1997.
Collection Cameo companion piece, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 2000.
New Faces, New Places: Recent Additions to the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 14–December 31, 2000.
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 (on exhibit partial run: April 1–July 5, 2004). [exh. cat.]
Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1996–January 12, 1997.
Collection Cameo companion piece, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 2000.
New Faces, New Places: Recent Additions to the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 14–December 31, 2000.
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 (on exhibit partial run: April 1–July 5, 2004). [exh. cat.]