Mary Hendrickson

Artist Unknown Artist

Periodca. 1840

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions9.4 × 7.5 in. (23.9 × 19.1 cm)

InscribedStamped on the reverse, "Prepared / By / EDwd Dechaux / New York."

ClassificationsPortraits

Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1941

Object number1661

DescriptionThree-quarter length portrait of a young woman facing right, with brown hair in long ringlets and dark eyes. She is wearing a black dress with a white scarf around her neck and white sleeves. Her jewelry consists of a rectangular brooch, and a bracelet on her right wrist. The subject is seated in a red upholstered chair with a carved crest. She leans on a white topped table with her right hand holding open a book. A red drapery forms the background in the upper left corner, and a rose in a bud vase sits on a table in the right background.
Curatorial RemarksPictured as a teenager, Mary Hendrickson is seated at a table, her right hand resting on an open book. A red rose sits in a vase behind her. In terms of the nineteenth century vocabulary of flowers, this species would have been viewed as an emblem of grace and purity - traits considered vital to the character of the nation's young women. Mary looks out thoughtfully at the viewer as if just interrupted from her reading. The unidentified artist has carefully rendered her strong oval face and gives equal attention to her cascading ringlets, which would have been styled with curling tongs. Edward Dechaux, whose stamp appears on the back of the canvas, was a supplier of artist materials in New York City from 1840 to 1863. He was located at 306 Broadway from 1840 to 1852, at 709 Broadway from 1853 to 1862, and at 653 Broadway in 1863. NotesMary Hendrickson (1825 - 1898) was born in Middletown, Monmouth County, a daughter of William H. Hendrickson and Eleanor Dubois. Her extended family included many important persons, including state senator William Henry Hendrickson (her brother) and noted historian the Rev. Garret Conover Schanck (her brother-in-law). In 1856, Mary married Henry Corlies (1821 - 1910) of Eatontown, where she made her home for the rest of her life. According to her obituary, the sitter led a life that "was a marvel for its cheerfulness, its liberality and its hospitality."

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