Autumn 2015 Preview

10 www.antiquesandfineart.com Autumn DISCOVERIE S Don Olson American Antiques Portrait of Miss Mary Gardner, Hubbardston, MA, 1850 Oil on canvas, 45 x 31¼ inches In ink, on verso: “Painted for Mifs Mary S. Gardner aged 3 years / By J G Chandler , May, 1850”; in ink on the stretcher: “Hubbardston, Mafs” Provenance; Descended directly through descendants of the sitter Courtesy of Don Olson American Antiques and Folk Art, Rochester, NY Massachusetts-born itinerant artist Joseph Goodhue Chandler (1813–1884) was unlike most of his peers in that he signed and dated his works (on the backs of the canvases). He was especially skilled at painting children. He favored representing subjects in a deep blue outfit, with one hand holding a prop, usually contrasting flowers for girls, and the other hand often holding a pet or object; in this example a hat ribbon. As with many folk art paintings, the image would seem to depict the subject older than her three years of age. Portraits by Chandler are held by noted private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Art. Studio sign of Thomas P. Moses Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1873 Gilt and painted wood; H. 54½, W. 21½, D. 1¾ inches Inscriptions: In script on the back, near the bottom: “T P Moses / Portsmouth / N.H.” / Paper label: “1” Bequest of Charles H. “Cappy” Stewart Courtesy of Portsmouth Historical Society, John Paul Jones House Museum, Portsmouth, NH Among the items recorded in the first accession books (1920–1923) of the Portsmouth Historical Society was “1. “Wooden lyre (for decoration)” from antiques dealer Charles “Cappy” Stewart. Nearly one hundred years later, scholar Richard Candee was preparing for an exhibition and the society’s former curator, Sandra Rux, suggested he look at the lyre, long languishing in the attic. In doing so he discovered a hitherto unnoticed pencil inscription: “T.P. [Mo]ses/ Portsmouth/N.H.” As the author of the catalog The Artful Life of Thomas P. Moses 1808–1881 (Portsmouth Athenaeum, 2002), Candee recognized Moses’ nearly complete signature immediately. Long the leading local artist in Portsmouth, Moses earned his living by giving music lessons. The Portsmouth Morning Chronicle noted in August 1873, “A very striking and beautiful sign is the new one recently raised over the door of the music room and studio of Mr. T.P. Moses on Pleasant street – the work of his own skillful and versatile hand.” According to the newspaper, the lyre sign originally included “a portrait of himself, surrounded with musical instruments and other emblems of the arts. . . [including] a golden lyre, the whole affording an attractive whole.” Moses’ “golden lyre” is on view in Signs of the City at the Society’s John Paul Jones House Museum through October 2015. For information visit www.portsmouthhistory.org.