Images(2)

Connecticut House

Dateprobably ca. 1805

Artist Rebecca Couch (1788-1863)

MediumWatercolor and ink on wove paper

DimensionsFramed: 16: x 19 1/4" Sheet: 13" x 16 3/8" Sheet: 13 x 16 3/8? (33.0 cm. x 41.6 cm.) Comp: 10 1/4" x 13 13/16" (26.0 cm. x 35.1 cm.)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.302.1

DescriptionFederal-style two-story house is set in near center of picture plane. A fence with an elaborate gate encloses a circular or oval area in front of it. Blue-painted sloping terrain is in front of the gate, across which walks a stooped man with a cane, and closer, a man pushes a wheelbarrow. In the foreground, on a grassy green bank filling the lower left foreground, a man sits sketching with his back to viewer. Three tall trees occupy L side of picture, a waterfall, bridge over same, and man crossing bridge appear at R. In the background, acoastline is visible at R, with buildings scattered along it in the distance and mountains beyond. three sialing vessles are on the water. At L, beyond the trhee large trees, dense foliage partly obscures a red-roofed small building.Label TextA now missing label on the reverse of this image identifies the artist of this image as Rebecca Couch, eldest child and only daughter of Thomas Nash Couch (1958-1821) and his wife Abigail Stebbins Couch (1766-1825). Although the painting was found in Sharon, Connecticut, the Couches lived in Litchfield, likely the location where Rebecca received some instruction in painting and embroidery.

Two other objects survive by her hand--another watercolor and a silk embroidery, the latter executed when the maker was 15 years old that now resides in a private collection. Like many of her amateur contemporaries, Couch simulated needlework stiches with some of her watercolor brush strokes. This is most noticeable in the stylized rendering of the tree leaves and compositional shading of the grass and trees. The idyllic nature of this scene suggests that an emboidery was the immediate source in creating her view, although because the house and locale of the subject remain unidentified it is possible the needlework was in turn based on a print, creating multiple sources for which this scene is based on.

Mark(s)A label on the reverse, now lost, is said to have read: "Painted by Rebecca Couch who lived in Litchfield and Redding, Connecticut about 1800. Painting came out of house in back of Library at Sharon, Conn."ProvenanceJ. Stuart Halladay and Herrell George Thomas, Sheffield, Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson, who was AARFAC's vendor.