Miss Denison of Stonington, Connecticut (possibly Matilda Denison)
Historical Context
The Denison Limner's portrait of Miss Denison of Stonington, possibly Matilda Denison, painted around 1790, completes the surviving series of Denison family portraits. These portraits collectively document a prominent Connecticut family during the period immediately following American independence, when the creation of family portraits served both personal and patriotic purposes in the new republic.
Technical Analysis
The limner's oil-on-canvas technique maintains the consistent style of the family series, with careful attention to the young woman's features and costume details within the characteristically flat, decorative approach of folk portraiture.
Provenance
Recorded as from Stonington, Connecticut. Descended in the family of the sitter.[1] (Victor Spark, New York), by whom sold in 1947 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; by bequest to NGA, 1980. [1] Although she was previously identified as Phebe Denison [1782-1853], genealogical records and the apparent age of the sitter suggest that this may be a portrait of Matilda [1776-1842], Phebe's older sister. In 1796 Matilda married Samuel Hurlbut, a ship chandler, ship owner, and merchant; they had ten children. Phebe and her husband W. J. Robinson also had ten children, and lived in Morristown, New Jersey. (E. Glenn Denison, et al., _Denison Genealogy, Ancestors and Descendants of Captain George Denison_, [Stonington, Conn., 1963].)
