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Portrait of a Woman
Anna Claypoole Peale (American, 1791–1878)
1820
- Medium
- watercolor on ivory on a gilt metal locket with red leather case
- Classification
- Portrait Miniature
- Dimensions
- Framed: 7.1 x 6 cm (2 13/16 x 2 3/8 in.)
- Culture
- United States
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Bequest of Muriel Butkin
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
As a child, Anna Claypoole Peale observed her father James Peale painting miniature portraits and practiced alongside him. She eventually rivaled his success and became one of the leading portrait miniaturists in American during the 1800s. The sitter’s identity is unknown, but her likeness has been skillfully rendered to emphasize her rosy cheeks, pale skin, and red lips. This object was likely gifted as a sentimental memento to a loved one.
