Pair of Portrait Miniatures of Nestor and Ann P. Houghton

Description:

Pair of Portrait Miniatures of Nestor and Ann P. Houghton, attributed to Eliza Goodridge, Boston, c. 1822, the portrait of the woman identified and dated in ink inscriptions on the reverse: "Ann P. Houghton this miniature taken 1 mo. 19, 1822," watercolor on ivory, 3 x 2 1/4 in., in later gilt-metal frames. Condition: Very good, minute spot of paint loss c.r. background of gentleman.

Note: Genealogical research indicates Nestor Houghton was born March 24, 1796, in Bolton, Massachusetts. He married Ann (or Anna) Phillips Rich (b. February 18, 1797, in Lynn, Massachusetts) on October 18, 1820. They resided in Lynn and had three children, two of whom died at a young age.

Literature: According to Dale T. Johnson in American Portrait Miniatures in the Manney Collection, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990, in comparing Eliza's portrait miniatures with her more well-known sister's (Sarah Goodridge) portraits: "Skin tones have a slightly yellow cast compared to the more purely pink tones in Sarah's works; backgrounds, often blue-green like Sarah's are also tinged with yellow," as is the case in the two portraits offered here.
Estimate $500-700

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