Portrait of Roxalana Thompson Willey (Mrs. Asa Willey)(1785-1851)

Date1807-1815

Attributed to Dr. Samuel Broadbent 1759 - 1828

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, Hartford County or Tolland County

MediumOil on Canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 32 1/2 x 27 3/8in. (82.6 x 69.5cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1971.100.5

DescriptionThe painting appears never to have been framed. Post conservation after acquisition by AARFAM, the perimeter was lined with lip-over molding only.Label TextThe paired portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Willey are well balanced in terms of color and design and include a surprising amount of background detail for an artist who was unusally restrained in his use of props and accessories. Both of the Willeys are seated in identical green hoop-back Windsor armchairs beside small red tables. The shelves of books behind Asa Willey probably were an allusion to his legal training.
Born in East Haddam, Connecticut, on February 22, 1774, Asa Willey practiced law in Hebron and Ellington, Connecticut, and served as the first probate judge in Tolland County. Roxalana Thompson was born in Melrose, Connecticut, on October 26, 1785; she became the second wife of Asa Willey on May 10, 1807, and their portraits appear to date from the early years of their marriage. Roxalana Willey died February 3, 1851; her husband died December 9 that same year.

ProvenanceIn 1971, when this portrait and its companion were acquired, AARFAM's vendor, Abbott B. Thompson, was living on the Melrose, Connecticut, farm where Roxalana Thompson Willey grew up. Per 5/4/2005 notes from a collateral descendant, Anne Cowen, Roxalana's line died with her only two grandchildren, which is probably why the portraits came back to the Thompson family homestead in Melrose. (The Asa Willeys appear to have lived elsewhere in Connecticut; Roxalana was buried in Ellington). The portraits descended in the family, although the exact line of descent is undocumented.