Eckardt, Otto - portrait of Jane Spottswood Keller

This miniature is signed inside "Painted by Otto E Eckardt, Dresden, 1901" and identified as "Jane Spottswood Keller aged 7 years". 

As with other portraits by Otto Eckardt in the collection, it is believed the portrait was painted in Germany, as a copy of a photograph sent to Germany from the United States.

Jane Spottswood Keller was born 10 Mar 1893, the daughter of David Alexander Keller and Alice Cooke who married in 1883. The family was wealthy and in the 1900 census, Jane had her own governess. She was a second cousin of of the famous blind and death author, Helen Keller (1880-1968) who wrote "The Story of My Life". Jane's mother, Alice was the daughter of Lyttleton Cooke, a lawyer and a highly respected member of the Kentucky bar, see Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897 ...

Jane Keller married George Danforth Caldwell, a lawyer, on 5 May 1918 and they had one son, David Keller Caldwell who was born in 1928. He wrote a book about dolphins, see 0397007345: The world of the bottlenosed dolphin by David Keller ...


The miniature of Jane was purchased as a single lot containing four miniatures, all shown here. (Also shown below to assist family researchers, are two more miniatures from the same family, but that went to a different buyer.) They all came from the collection of G. Vernon Diab of Louisville, Kentucky.

One of the other miniatures in the lot, the man with grey hair and a moustache is identified on a tag as David Keller Caldwell and painted by John Ramsier (1861-1936). However, David Keller Caldwell was born in 1928 and hence the clothing does not look right for the 20C. It is signed with initials "K D A", but the full name of the artist has not been determined.

It seems more likely the miniature is of a different family member, perhaps Jane's father David Alexander Keller (27 Jul 1853 - 24 May 1926). David was a cousin of Helen Keller (1880-1968). Like Helen Keller, David Keller was obviously also a strong minded person, as in the 1900 census he described his occupation as "capitalist". However, he also appears to have been a founder of the Louisville YMCA.

By comparison, the miniature here of a bald man that does look like a photo, although unsigned is confidently attributed as painted by John Ramsier. It is of Hon James Guthrie, who was the great-grandfather of Jane's husband, George Danforth Caldwell. Guthrie had a number of political positions, including Secretary to the Treasury. For much more about this portrait, see Ramsier, John - portrait of Hon James Guthrie

The fourth miniature (possibly an over-painted photograph) of a man with both a moustache and beard is of John F Henry (22 Jun 1839-1899) a Confederate veteran who married Mary Churchill Richardson 30 Sep 1869. He has been identified as John Flournoy Henry, son of a Kentucky congressman (1827-1829) of the same name. John Flournoy Henry junior wrote a book entitled "A History of the Henry Family From its Beginning in this Country to the Present Time" which was published in 1900, just after his death.

As a Civil War soldier, he had joined Lieutenant Colonel Tom Woodward's Second Kentucky Regiment of Cavalry, attached to General Bedford Forrest's Brigade. He was actively engaged in the Tennessee campaigns, and participated in the hard-fought battles of Chickamauga, Farmington, Maryville, Resaca, as well as those of Kennesaw Mountain, Saltville, and Bentonville. He was severely wounded at Farmington, October 7, 1863, just subsequent to Chickamauga, through which desperate fight he had passed unharmed. Returning to his command, he was unexpectedly, and wholly without his solicitation, promoted, by general brigade orders, to official rank in the commissary department, but so averse was he to leaving the field of active service that he procured a reversal of the order and remained throughout the struggle a private soldier.

Henry became engaged with an extensive cotton firm of Charleston, Savannah, and Augusta in collecting, rebaling, and shipping cotton from the interior to the coast. From this he was called to a position of responsibility in a cotton bagging and baling rope manufacturing establishment in Louisville, where he took up his residence November 1, 1865. He became a member of the firm January 1, 1869, but in 1873 its factory was burned. After closing its large business in 1874, Mr. Henry formed a partnership, establishing the firm of Patterson, Henry & Co., which for more than seventeen years ranked among the first pork-packing and provision houses in its section. Early in 1892, having been chosen Second Vice-President and Trust Officer of The Louisville Trust Co., he abandoned commercial pursuits and devoted himself to the affairs of that large financial institution, of which he became the vice-president.

The sale included a number of other miniatures from the Diab collection and the pair of miniatures of two men represent a sad side effect of an auction, when a family is split up and sold as different lots.

The portraits of two men in the auction were identified as on the left Edward Sheggog, painted in March 1839 at Philadelphia by Mrs A C Staughton (Anna Claypoole Peale) and on the right Alexander Moore Keller by John Ramsier. Unfortunately they sold well above estimate to another bidder ($3220 compared to $500-$700) and thus could not remain with the portraits of Jane Keller and her other family members.

Research has identified Alexander Spottswood Moore Keller (14 Nov 1813-3 Mar 1857) as the grandfather of Jane. He married Jane Elizabeth Sheggog (1819-1865) and so it seems likely that Edward Sheggog was either Jane's great-grandfather or a great-uncle.

All the miniatures were accompanied by tags with their names on, possibly written by G Vernon Diab, but it does seem there may have been a mix up with some of the names. The younger portrait of Alexander Moore Keller does not look like the work of John Ramsier (1861-1936), who was not active at the time it was painted. However, it is possible that it is a copy by John Ramsier of a portrait by another artist. Perhaps more likely is that the wrong miniature was attributed to John Ramsier when the tags were written. 1253, 1254, 1255, 1256

Colby, Clara - portrait of Commodore Edward Preble

To date, nothing has been found about Clara Colby, who appears to be a hitherto unrecorded artist. However, she was obviously a very talented artist.

The profile miniature portrait has a plaque reading "231 Commodore Preble - Clara Colby". It is signed on the lower right "Clara Colby" and on the backing paper it is inscribed "Commodore Preble - painted on ivory by Clara Colby". The significance of the number 231 is unknown, perhaps it relates to an exhibition reference number.

The frame is of solid wood with a thick, turned ivory fillet surrounding the miniature itself. This is a very expensive and unusual type of frame. A little unfortunately, it appears when Clara Colby copied the portrait from the medal, she was not aware of the correct shade of blue for his uniform, as it should have been navy blue.

The obverse and reverse of the Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to Commodore Edward Preble (1761-1807) of Falmouth, Maine, in 1805 for his efforts against the Barbary pirates of Tripoli, are shown here. The reverse shows the attack on Tripoli.

The medal was based upon a portrait drawn by Rembrandt Peale, a member of the famous American family of miniature painters. It was drawn as Preble passed through Philadelphia on his way home, about two weeks after the award was made public. The actual medal was given to him in 1806, not long before he died in 1807 at the age of 46.
For much more about him, see United States of America Congressional Gold Medal Recipient Edward ...

Interestingly, a miniature portrait painted by his great-granddaughter Alice Preble Tucker De Haas, was a recent addition to this collection, see De Haas, Alice Preble Tucker - portrait of a young... 1230

Korzybska, Mira Edgerly - portrait of three sisters or a triptych?

It is hard to comprehend the large size of this miniature portrait without visual clues. It is very large for a miniature on ivory, with the maximum sight dimensions being 215 mm x 120 mm (8.5 inches by 5 inches). The image here does not do justice to its brightness and clarity.

It is signed at the lower right "EDGERLY.K.34". This stands for the American artist Mira Edgerly Korzybska (18 Jan 1879-13 Jul 1954).

Born in Illinois, Mira Edgerly spent her childhood in MI, where her father was an inventor and a director of the Michigan Central Railroad. Largely a self-taught artist, she began working with portrait photograph Arnold Genthe, reportedly studied with Frank Brangwyn in Paris, and was urged to pursue her love of painting on ivory by the artist John Singer Sargent.

At a time when most miniature portraits were the size of one's palm, Mira Edgerly specialised in using large ivory pieces. Through the world's largest ivory cutting house in London she obtained sheets of ivory cut into pieces 6 by 12 inches or more. She carefully selected ivory with translucent qualities, giving special brilliance and luminosity to colours. Sargent, on seeing her paintings, said, "Here at last is a portrait on ivory, not a miniature."

Edgerly became a sought after portraitist among the upper echelons of American and European society as well as the entertainment and literary worlds. Her work took her to and from New York, London, Paris, California Washington, Latin America, and Chicago. Many of Edgerly's portraits are catalogued at Columbia University, including those of Elsie de Wolfe, Doris Duke, and Aileen Vanderbilt. However, very few are available to view.

There is a reference to her (as Myra Edgerly) in "The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas" (1933). "Mildred Aldrich once brought a very extraordinary person Myra Edgerly. I remembered very well that when I was quite young and went to a fancy-dress ball, a Mardi Gras ball in San Francisco, I saw a very tall and very beautiful and very brilliant woman there. This was Myra Edgerly young. Genthe, the well known photographer did endless photographs of her, mostly with a cat. She had come to London as a miniaturist and she had had one of those phenomenal successes that Americans do have in Europe. She had miniatured everybody, and the royal family, and she had maintained her earnest gay careless outspoken San Francisco way through it all. She now came to Paris to study a little. She met Mildred Aldrich and became very devoted to her. Indeed it was Myra who in nineteen thirteen, when Mildred's earning capacity was rapidly dwindling secured an annuity for her and made it possible for Mildred to retire to the Hilltop on the Marne."

And "Myra Edgerly was very earnestly anxious that Gertrude Stein's work should be more widely known. When Mildred told her about all those unpublished manuscripts Myra said something must be done. And of course something was done. She knew John Lane slightly and she said Gertrude Stein and I must go to London. But first Myra must write letters and then I must write letters to everybody for Gertrude Stein. She told me the formula I must employ. I remember it began, Miss Gertrude Stein as you may or may not know, is, and then you went on and said everything you had to say. Under Myra's strenuous impulsion we went to London in the winter of nineteen twelve, thirteen, for a few weeks. We did have an awfully good time. Myra took us with her to stay with Colonel and Mrs. Rogers at Riverhill in Surrey. This was in the vicinity of Knole and of Ightham Mote, beautiful houses and beautiful parks. This was my first experience of country-house visiting in England since, as a small child, I had only been in the nursery. I enjoyed every minute of it. The comfort, the open fires, the tall maids who were like annunciation angels, the beautiful gardens, the children, the ease of it all. And the quantity of objects and of beautiful things. What is that, I would ask Mrs. Rogers, ah that I know nothing about, it was here when I came. It gave me a feeling that there had been so many lovely brides in that house who had found all these things there when they came."

Mira married Frderick Burt in 1914 in New York before they headed to Europe MIRA EDGERLY WEDS.; She Becomes the Bride of Frederick Burr at ... The wedding notice comments that she had painted a miniature of Princess Patricia, a grand daughter of Queen Victoria, while in Ottawa. However the marriage does not seem to have lasted very long, whether due to the death of Burt or divorce is not clear. Mira returned to America by herself in August 1914 on SS Carpania.

In his 1944 book "As Much as I Dare", Burgess Johnson made the following comment; "In the early days of the first World War, two or three young women who had been students of mine were working for the Red Cross and the Food Administration in Washington and shared an apartment. Mira Edgerly was then painting portraits at the national capital and I wrote them that they should meet her. They invited her to tea where she proved to be the center of interest. Late in the afternoon a young Polish officer arrived, an engineer assigned by his government to inspect munitions purchased by Poland in America. According to the accounts of my young friends he settled down by the Edgerly's side for the balance of the afternoon and the two were there when everyone but the hostesses had gone. Two months later Mira Edgerly and Count Alfred Korzybski were married."

Johnson's memory seems to be a little out however, as the marriage to Alfred was in 1919, which was after WWI, not in the early days of WWI. Count Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950), was a well-known Polish-American linguist, author, and pioneer in semantics, and for some years Mira successfully juggled her art with helping her husband in his endeavours.

The couple lived in various places throughout the USA, and when Korzybski was appointed head of the Institute of General Semantics, they divided their time between Chicago and Lakeville, CT. Both are buried in the cemetery in Lime Rock CT, the town next to Lakeville. For more about their meeting see Edgerly, Mira

A large quantity of her papers are held at Columbia University see Mira Edgerly Korzybska Papers ca.1850-1960. and it is hoped that the papers may be able to reveal the names of these three sisters, or perhaps a triptych of one girl, as to date the sitters have not been identified. Columbia University was twice approached to see if they could please check the work books they hold that record all Mira Edgerly's work, to see if there was a record of a similar miniature, but unfortunately they never replied. 1242

There is also more about Mira in a Polish website at  Mira Edgerly Korzybska | daisypless

Wheeler, Janet - portrait of man and lady

This pair of miniatures are believed to both be by Janet Derinda Wheeler (1866-1945), although only the one of the lady is signed "Janet Wheeler". This may be her married name, as in the 1910 census she stated she was living with her stepson Leon Wheeler aged 17. However, she always seems to have described herself as single and so it is possible Wheeler was her maiden name.

She was born in Detroit, MI and trained in Paris at Academies Julian and Courtois. She won several medals, including a gold medal at the Philadelphia Art Club in 1902 and a silver medal for painting at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, see Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission by ...

There is some confusion over her year of birth and she has added to this by the various dates of birth she gave when returning to the United States from her many trips abroad. In the census records she disclosed assets of only a few hundred dollars and it is not known how she funded her overseas trips, of which there seem to have been at least 20, mainly to Europe.

She was very accurate with her birthday, always shown as 24 December and her state of birth as Michigan, but the years she stated in her immigration declarations for her birth year include; 1860, 1861, 1866, 1867, 1869, 1870, 1872, 1873, and 1874 !!
For the 1900 census she stated the year was 1866, and at the time she was living as a boarder in Philadeplphia and 1866 is also stated in other census records.

The miniature of the man is interesting as the overall portrait of him shows how artists bought ivory sheets and then needed to cut them to the desired shape to avoid imperfections.

Both of the sitters are unknown. 276a, 276b

Poultney, Richard Curzon - portrait of a young lady

This is an interesting miniature portrait. It is signed with a monogram and date "R C P 1889" for Richard Curzon Poultney. Poultney is described in Blattel as a British artist, but research has shown that he was actually American.

The miniature is interesting as it is the earliest American miniature in this collection showing the influence of the brighter palette associated with Impressionism.

Most miniatures prior to this date were trying to imitate photographs. However, it seems Poultney went and studied in Europe and was influenced by the Art Nouveau style. This miniature seems much more like a life portrait, than a copy of a photograph.

Poultney was a member of a very wealthy family from Baltimore, Maryland. He was born in 1860 and died as still a young man in 1897. If he had lived longer, it seems almost certain he would have become as well known as other 1900 miniaturists such as WJ Baer, Alyn Williams, and Eulabee Dix.

There are two references that record Poultney as an artist. The Baltimore directory for 1890 lists him as an artist living at 1320 Bolton St , Baltimore. Then on Jul 30 1894 he arrived back in USA from Europe on the SS Umbria, giving his occupation as artist.

In the 1880 census he is recorded as living with his parents Thomas and Susan Poultney and siblings in Baltimore where his father was with the Baltimore Oil Company.

His uncle Walter de Curzon Poultney (1845-1929) who also worked for the oil company was a well known socialite of the time.

Other miniatures by Poultney are held by the Maryland Historical Society, one of which seems to be of a close relation, see Maryland ArtSource - Collections - Nancy Poultney Falconer (Mrs ...

Unfortunately, the sitter in this portrait is unknown. 1245



Much later - A kind visitor has researched this miniature portrait and advises as below. While difficult to be certain, the identity suggested does seem quite possible. In addition to the points noted, her eyebrows are similar and, to me, the sitter may well be aged 15 or 16, which would then fit with an 1874 birth date.

[[ I was researching an obscure American artist and came across your portrait of “A Young Lady” by Richard Curzon Poultney and as always, was entranced by your information:

http://american-miniatures20c.blogspot.com/2007/06/poultney-richard-curzon-portrait-of.html

Since the sitter was unknown, I did a quick look on the web and found a catalogue, “Loan Exhibition of Portraits for the Benefit of the Orthopaedic Hospital” December 1898. On page 63, there is an entry 444 [no illustration] for a miniature portrait [miniatures begin on page 48] of “Miss Madeline Ives Goddard,” loaned by Mrs. R. H. Goddard [Madeline’s mother].  This catalogue can be accessed at:

https://archive.org/stream/loanexhibition00nati#page/62/mode/2up/search/curzon

So for fun, I searched for Madeline Ives Goddard and immediately found a photo of this well-known socialite. Considering Poultney’s background, I became convinced that your miniature is indeed Madeline Ives Goddard --- or, as is my usual, is probably just wishful thinking. Regardless, I decided to pass my hypothesis along to you to see what you think. Her broad “chubby” chin is so distinct. My only conflict is that she was born July 1, 1874

https://gw.geneanet.org/garric?lang=en&p=madeleine+ives&n=goddard

and your miniature is dated 1889, which would make her a very mature-looking girl aged 15 or 16. The photo is not dated, she married at the age of 32 in 1902, and she is not wearing a ring in the photo.

                              

The photograph above is on the Rhode Island Foundation site, see attached Acrobat file, that I accessed at:

http://www.rifoundation.org/TransformingRhodeIsland/100YearsofCommunity/FundForthereliefofincurables.aspx

Since she formed a foundation for the benefit of hospitals, it makes sense that her miniature was exhibited in 1889 for the benefit of a hospital. The foundation is still in existence and supported by third-generation Goddard family members:

http://www.rifoundation.org/2013report/story4.html

Her father, Colonel Robert Hale Ives Goddard, was a “prominent banker, industrialist, U. S. Army Officer, state senator, and philanthropist. See Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hale_Ives_Goddard ]]