Sarah Van Mater Van Mater

Periodca. 1821

MediumPastel on paper

Dimensions25 × 21 in. (63.5 × 53.3 cm)

ClassificationsPortraits

Credit LineBequest of Henry W. Disbrow, 1936

Object number1984.525.3

DescriptionThree-quarter length portrait of an elderly, heavy set female facing right, with deep set grayish green eyes, dark gray hair, multiple chins, and a small mole on the subject's left cheekbone. She wears a very deep blue-black long sleeve dress with squared neckline, a plain white kerchief tucked into the dress neckline under a fine black lace net kerchief, and a white day cap that is slightly puffed with a wide plain band along the crown, double ruffle, and lacking chin strings. The subject also wears small gold hoop earrings, and a gold ring on her right hand. Her left hand supports her right arm, and she holds a blue leather bound book in her right hand that has her name stamped on its cover. The subject poses in front of a grassy background with a clear brighth blue sky showing some suggestion of clouds, and two full-leafed trees in the upper left corner. Mounted on wood stretchers, and formerly lined with a sheet of newspaper, only fragments of which survived.
Curatorial RemarksOne of a group of at least seven closely related family portraits, this image depicts sixty-one year old Sarah Van Mater. Williams downplayed the sitter’s multiple chins with soft tones. Sarah’s thin lips, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and even the small wart high on her right cheek were all rendered with skill and compassion. Sarah’s portrait is one of a handful of Williams’ portraits featuring an exterior landscape scene. The pair of portraits of Sarah’s sister, Mayke Van Mater Polhemus Clarke (Catalogue No. 38) and Mayke’s husband, George Clarke (Catalogue No. 37), also included elaborately detailed exterior scenes. Sarah’s simple exterior scene included rolling hills of soft green grass and a pair of trees behind her right shoulder, with Williams’ typical serrated leaves. Williams rarely included inscriptions of any kind within his portraits. Sarah’s name in gold lettering across the little blue-bound book she held in her right hand was an exception. NotesSarah Van Mater (1759 - 1840) was a daughter of Daniel Van Mater (1728 - 1786) and Maria Covenhoven (1737 - 1767). She married her cousin, Benjamin I. Van Mater, in 1778. The couple became parents of six children. During the Revolution, Benjamin served as a Private in the First Regiment of Monmouth County Militia which captured the British brig Britannia off the New Jersey Coast. In 1780 he was awarded a portion of the prize money by a Court of Admiralty of New Jersey.

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