Anne Hume Shippen

Benjamin Trott, Anne Hume Shippen, ca. 1796, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Natalie Brooks Sears Shippen and William Brush Shippen, 1999.87.1
Copied Benjamin Trott, Anne Hume Shippen, ca. 1796, watercolor on ivory, sight 2 5⁄8 x 2 1⁄8 in. (6.7 x 5.3 cm) oval, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Natalie Brooks Sears Shippen and William Brush Shippen, 1999.87.1
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Anne Hume Shippen
Artist
Date
ca. 1796
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sight 2 5⁄8 x 2 1⁄8 in. (6.7 x 5.3 cm) oval
Credit Line
Gift of Natalie Brooks Sears Shippen and William Brush Shippen
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait female — Shippen, Anne Hume — bust
Object Number
1999.87.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1999.87.1

Artwork Description

Benjamin Trott's portrait of Anne Hume "Nancy" Shippen is a rare example, because he painted very few women early in his career. The sitter was regarded by her numerous admirers as "sweet to look upon, and sweeter yet to hold." To please her parents, Shippen broke off an engagement with the man she loved in order to marry Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston in 1781. The marriage established ties of kinship among the Lees, Washingtons, and Livingstons, three prominent families from the nation's early history. Shippen ultimately left her husband and lived the rest of her days with her parents. Their daughter, Peggy, was sent to live with Colonel Livingston's mother until she was sixteen to protect her inheritance from her grandmother.