Portrait of Edmund Dickinson

Dateca. 1770

MediumGraphite on a primary support of laid or wove paper, with later additions in watercolor and ink & a secondary support of wove paper.

DimensionsUnframed: 5 1/2 x 5 1/16in. (14 x 12.9cm) and Framed: 8 1/16 x 7 7/8in. N. B. Primary support is very irregular an and is adhered to later support.

Credit LineMuseum purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Harold B. Gill, Jr.

Object number2000-100

DescriptionA half-length profile portrait of a man seated sideways in a chair facing left, his far arm hung over the crest rail, his near hand not shown but possibly intended to be thrust within his waistcoat. He wears a white shirt, white neckcloth, red waistcoat, blue coat and breeches, and has dark blonde or light brown hair caught in a queue at the back and curled up over the ears. He has a long, narrow, aquiline nose.Inscription(s)On the reverse of the secondary support in brown ink in script, probably written in the latter part of the nineteenth century and possibly by William R. Smart (1827-1897 or 1899) is: "Major Edmund B. Dickinson/Killed at Battle of/Monmouth/June 28th 1778/He was a brother of Lucy, the/wife of Robert Gibbons, who/was the mother of Louisa Gibbon(s)/who married Wm Smart, who/was the father of Wm R. Smart."

Below the preceding, in another hand, in a darker brown ink in a somewhat later-looking script is: "This picture belongs to/Edmund Dickinson Smart son of/W R Smart".ProvenanceThe following is partly speculative and partly based on the reverse inscription. More information is in the file.

From the subject to his sister, Mrs. Robert Gibbons (Lucy Dickinson); to her daughter, Mrs. William Smart (Louisa Gibbons); to her son, William Robert Smart (1827-1897 or 1899); to his son Edmund Dickinson Smart (1869-1940 or 1946); to his two children [twins?] R. Henry Smart and Althea O. Smart.