AFA 18th Anniversary

( P&M No. 353), painted in 1775. Her name, Dorothy Quincy Hancock, is not given in the CAP record. According to Maureen O’Brien, curator of painting and sculpture at RISD, there a re t hree min iat u re s in t he R ISD collection—a portrait of John Hancock attributed to Peale and set as a brooch, and portraits of his children, Lydia Henchman Hancock and John George Washington Hancock (“Johnny”), placed in a double- sided locket. They were acquired through a dealer who claimed they had descended through the Hancock family. Research was undertaken in an effort to confirm or dispute the claim. A series of letters in the RISD archives revealed that in January 1932, a woman attempted to sell three miniatures to the Boston jeweler Frederick T. Widmer, saying they had always been in her family. 4 Widmer offered them to William Cushing Loring, a RISD department head, a member of the Museum Committee, and an art dealer. The John Hancock miniature by “Charles Wilson [ sic ] Peale” was priced at $1,200, and a miniature locket containing portraits of the children of John Hancock, “artist unknown,” was priced at $300. After researching the children’s portraits, Loring wrote to the museum director: “The miniature of the little girl has been attributed as without doubt, to Charles Wilson [ sic ] Peale.”  5 The museum purcha sed t he miniatures. However, Widmer neglected to tell Loring who had sold him the miniatures and Loring did not tell Widmer that the baby’s portrait was probably also by Peale. The miniatures were placed in storage and the chain of provenance was broken. Serendipitously, I found the key to the miniatures’ story in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 6 Thomas H. Wood, a Hancock family descendent, had donated black and white photographs of Lydia and Johnny’s miniatures in 2012. It was frequently the custom to make such photographs of family paintings for relatives who did not inherit the originals. The photographs were accompanied by the following “granny note”: “Photograph of Miniature on one side of large Gold locket. John George Washington Hancock. Only Son of Gov. John and Dorothy Hancock. Died from fall on the Ice. Locket is Gold with dark blue 2018 Antiques & Fine Art 149 Fig. 5: John Singleton Copley (1738–1815), Thomas Hancock, ca. 1758; enlarged 1766. Oil on copper, sight, 3⅞ x 2⅞ in. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Gift of Charles H. Wood and museum purchase. Conserved with funds from the Smithsonian Women’s Committee. enameled frame & gold (stars or dots) between 2 & 3 in. long. Min. of Sister Lydia on the other side. Photograph of miniature on one side of large Gold locket. Only Daughter of Gov. John and Dorothy Hancock. Lydia Henchman Hancock. Gold Locket was enameled with dark blue with gold spots or stars. It was the only picture of Lydia and very much prized by E.L.H. Wood. It was sold to Frederick J. Widmer. 31 West St., Boston. By her daughter Mary Wood Cole for $50.00. I went to Widmer’s, but he said he knew nothing about having bought the Locket. Morton Cole said he would try to Trade it for us, but he never did it.” 7 Thomas H. Wood told me (personal email 11/24/15) that the author of this note was his grandmother, Emily Niles Lockwood