Sarah Conover Schanck Smock and Baby Elenor

Periodca. 1819

MediumPastel on paper

Dimensions24 × 20.3 in. (61 × 51.6 cm)

ClassificationsPortraits

Credit LineBequest of Sarena V. Roome [Mrs. J. William], 1957

Object number1982.417

DescriptionThree-quarter length double portrait of an adult female holding an infant. The adult wears a black dress, white double ruffle collar with cutwork chain edging embroidery, and an elaborate day cap of spotted muslin or batiste without chin ties that features a large bow at the center top and a double row of brim ruffles. The subject wears a small gold hoop earring, a double strand of choker-length tiny gold beads, and a gold and jet ring on the ring finger of her right hand. The infant wears a white dress with a wide square neckline, double ruffle cap, sleeves with bows at the shoulder tops, and a single strand of coral beads. She is reaching for a peach with two leaves being offered to her by her mother. The background is a plain mottled blue-gray color. Mounted on wood stretchers. Fragments of newspaper lining appear to be from the American Messenger published by the American Tract Society.
Curatorial RemarksThe companion portraits of Aaron Smock and that of his wife Sarah with baby Elenor are two of the most poignant of the surviving images by Micah Williams. Sarah Smock and her seventh child, daughter Elenor, posed together in one of the finest mother and child portraits produced by Micah Williams. Sarah’s clothes and accessories reflected her position in society as a matron and her husband’s economic position as a successful farmer. The peach Sarah and Elenor held between them was a delicate reference to Aaron’s fruit orchards. Sarah chose numerous pieces of jewelry for her portrait including earrings, a double strand necklace, and multiple rings. Baby Elenor had the same steady gaze as her mother. She wore a lovely little ruffled cap, most likely made by Sarah, and a strand of coral beads around her neck. Coral was a popular choice for children’s jewelry as it was thought to impart protection against sickness.NotesSarah Conover Schanck (1786 - 1825) was a daughter of Garret G. Schanck II (1743 - 1797) and Sarah Covenhoven (1744 - 1805). She married Aaron Smock, nicknamed “Orrie,” on 24 November 1804. The couple had ten children including Garret, Sarah Ann, Jane Schenck, Daniel Polhemus, Elizabeth, William Henry, Elenor (the infant depicted in the portrait), Aaron A., John A., and Eleanor Schenck. Aaron was progressive and worked actively in stock breeding and horticulture. He developed the “Smock” peach and the “Orange Pippin” apple; he bred sheep and helped to develop a lucrative spring lamb market with New York City butchers; and he was one of the first farmers in the area to use greensand marl on his fields as fertilizer. Aaron and Sarah were members of the Old Brick Dutch Reformed Church in Freehold, now Marlboro. Less than four months after the portrait was completed, baby Elenor died on 13 April 1819 and was laid to rest in the Old Brick churchyard. Sarah died six years later in 1825 at the age of thirty-nine, less than four months after her last child. Her death may have resulted from lingering complications during or after childbirth. Aaron was left a widower with ten children, ranging in age from twenty-one year old Garret to four month old Eleanor.

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