Attributed to Erastus Salisbury Field (Massachusetts, 1805-1900) Portrait of the Reuben Puffer Family of North Amherst, Massachusetts.

Description:

Attributed to Erastus Salisbury Field (Massachusetts, 1805-1900)

Portrait of the Reuben Puffer Family of North Amherst, Massachusetts. Unsigned. Oil on paper applied to linen, 1859, depicting the sitters (l-r) Sarah Elizabeth (1845-1860),Ellen Jane (1843-1900),Frank Gilbert (born 1850),Nancy Maria (1848-1904),Clara Billings (1853-1857),Mrs. Clara Johnson Puffer (1823-1898),Herbert Eral (1860-1862),Reuben Gilbert Puffer (1817-1902),and Alice Louisa (1856-1863). The portrait of Clara (fifth from the left),who died in 1857, is posthumous. Another daughter, Sarah holds a posthumous portrait of Clara or possibly her own portrait, as she died in 1857, 36 1/4 x 47 14 in., in a molded giltwood frame. Condition: Professionally conserved, two repaired tears, scattered retouch, relined.

Provenance: By family descent to the consignor.

Exhibited: Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, Massachusetts July 1993-August 2005.

Literature: According to Erastus Salisbury Field 1805-1900by Mary Black, 1984, pp. 35-36, between 1855 and 1859, Field is known to have painted three entire families of the North Amherst, Massachusetts, area, using photographs for his source rather than live people. Each of these large families was depicted on a single canvas in a room interior that reflected the middle class taste of the time, including high ceilings, valanced and tasseled draperies, rococo revival furniture and a bold, brightly colored ingrain carpet. Each of the faces in this Puffer Family portrait has a smooth and facile appearance.

Note: An 1880 census records that Reuben Puffer was a retired grocer.
Estimate $80,000-150,000

Keywords