Gilbert Van Mater

Periodca 1820 - 1821

MediumPastel on paper

Dimensions25 × 21 in. (63.5 × 53.3 cm)

ClassificationsPortraits

Credit LineBequest of Henry W. Disbrow, 1936

Object number1984.525.4

DescriptionThree-quarter length portrait of a heavy set adult male facing right, with deep brown eyes, double chin, thick black hair brushed up and back from his forehead, and long sideburns. He wears a black coat with a notched collar, a plain white shirt, a high white stock tied in a small bow, and a white vest with an upturned collar. The subject's left hand is tucked into the coat front, with only the thumb visible. Bright yellow draperies swag above the sitter's head, framing him, while brown vertical stripes on either side of the sitter act as a molding or window effect. The space within the window is a medium soft mottled gray. The walls on either side of the window appear as mottled blue/green/brown. Mounted on wooden stretchers, and lined with a newspaper sheet from the Trenton Federalist dated 20 November 1820, and portions another another sheet from the same newspaper dated prior to April 1821.
Curatorial RemarksMicah Williams, like other itinerant artists, offered his patrons a choice of backgrounds for their portraits. Husband and wife Gilbert and Ann Van Mater decided upon elegant drapery swags for their portraits. The artist produced numerous Van Mater family likenesses in addition to those of Gilbert and Ann, including two of Gilbert’s sisters, a brother-in-law, two married daughters, and a cousin. Gilbert’s and Ann’s costumes of sober black and white contrasted vividly against the rich yellow and orange of their backgrounds. Both portraits are examples of Micah Williams’ excellent Monmouth County portraiture.NotesGilbert Van Mater (1762 - 1832) was one of five children and the only son of Daniel Van Mater (1728-1786) and Mary (Maria) Covenhoven (1737 - 1767). After the death of his first wife, Margaret Sprague, in 1798, Gilbert remarried in 1808 to Ann Vandervoort Rapalye (1769 - 1857), a Long Island resident. Gilbert and Margaret became the parents of seven children. The marriage to Ann Rapalye resulted in two step children being brought into the family, and together they had another daughter.

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