$31,725
Attributed to Zedekiah Belknap (1781-1858) Portrait of a Child Holding a Doll, 1807-1811. Unsigned. Oil on canvas, 29 3/4 x 23 1/2 in., sight, in a gilt gesso frame. Condition: Minor paint loss; four small patches; unrestored; replaced frame. Provenance: Family descent from Lyman Bradstreet Walker (1785-1857), who practiced law in Meredith, Guilford and Concord, New Hampshire. In 1843, he was appointed Attorney General of New Hampshire, a position he held for a five-year term. He died nine years later. His wife Mary Hammond had lived in Chester, Vermont, a town very near Wethersfield, Vermont, where Belknap's family moved when he was 13 years old. Note; While his brothers and sisters tended the Belknap family farm, Zedekiah went to Dartmouth College in Hanover to pursue divinity studies. Belknap graduated from Dartmouth in 1807 and preached for a few years, but is known to have begun his portrait painting in New Hampshire by 1807. This painting illustrates Belknap's early work in which he rendered his subjects in a naturalistic manner. His style changed later, when he employed bright colors and the use of decorative costume details.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2007-06-03
