Copper Fox Antiques is pleased to offer for Sale

"Mrs. Garret Cottringer"

An American Original Painting by Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)

Oil on Canvas 36" x 31" Framed, 28-1/2" x 23-1/2" Unframed

About the Artist: Gilbert Charles Stuart was born to a snuff mill owner in North Kingstown, Rhode Island in 1755. He studied painting with portraitist Samuel King in Newport, then with Cosmo Alexander in the southern colonies. Around 1771, he visited Edinburgh and during the American Revolution, he visited London to study with Benjamin West. From 1787 to 1792, Stuart painted portraits of many people, including a series of portraits of the first American President, George Washington. Among these are: The Vaughan Portrait (1795, in the National Gallery, Washington, D.C.); The Athenian Portrait (1796, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); and The Landsdowne Portrait (1796, at the Pennsylvania Institute of Fine Arts in Philadelphia). In 1805, Stuart moved to Boston, where he painted many other American portraits. Apparently he was always low on money, and is buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in Boston. His paintings are in museum collections all around the world.

About the Sitter: Mrs. Garrett Cottringer, also known as Bridgett Cullen Cottringer, was the wife of Garret Cottringer, an Irish gentleman and merchant who lived in Alexandria, Virginia when he died in 1804. Cottringer worked for Robert Morris, Esquire, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. As of 1894, the painting in question, then in Washington, D.C., was owned by the last surviving daughter of Mrs. Cottringer. The painting has remained within the family to this present day.

Description: A vertically oriented oil painting on canvas, a bust portrait, depicting an attractive middle-aged woman in almost frontal position. With curly dark, graying hair, dark brown eyebrows and eyes, aquiline nose and rosy cheeks. The sitter, Mrs. Garret Cottringer, wears a silk or satin white high-waisted long-sleeved dress, Empire style (probably early nineteenth century). She is posed in front of a brown/maroon curtain which is slightly pulled back to reveal a blue cloudy sky with some greenery along the drape. The painting is in very good condition, and was previously cleaned and slightly retouched in 1998 by Alexandra Tice of Chevy Chase, Maryland, according to documentation provided by the family. There is very little inpainting, most notably what appears to be a thin horizontal repair, circa 3-4, along the chest and ride side of collar. The canvas has been restretched and the back of the painting has been covered with foam board for protection. The ornate rectangular frame, has an oval opening, and has relief floral and leaf patterning at each corner. On the back of the frame is a small metal label with the painting's title, the artist and his life dates. The framed was conserved by William A. Lewis of Baltimore in 1998.

*Information courtesy of Studio 95 LLC, 3100 Waverly Drive Charlottesville, Va 22901*

For further information and to arrange a viewing please contact us as noted below

(the painting is not at our store but in a secure location for obvious reasons)

Copper Fox Antiques LLC
7 River Lane
Sperryville Virginia 22740
540-987-8800 - phone
info@CopperFoxAntiques.com - email