Jeremiah Theus, Polly Ouldfield of Winyah, ca. 1761, oil on canvas, 30 1⁄8 x 25 1⁄8 in. (76.5 x 63.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of International Business Machines Corporation, 1969.130
Free to use
Copied
Artwork Details
- Title
- Polly Ouldfield of Winyah
- Artist
- Date
- ca. 1761
- Location
- Dimensions
- 30 1⁄8 x 25 1⁄8 in. (76.5 x 63.8 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of International Business Machines Corporation
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Portrait female — Ouldfield, Polly — child
- Object Number
- 1969.130
Artwork Description
Polly Ouldfield was born into a life of privilege. Her father was a member of the Commons House of Assembly in London, and records indicate that he owned land in Georgetown in 1752. Polly's husband was a landowner from Charleston, South Carolina, who served as Commissary of Militia in the Georgetown District during the Revolutionary War. (Middleton, Jeremiah Theüs: Colonial Artist of Charles Town, 1953) In this portrait the landscape beyond the window suggests the Ouldfields' significant landholdings, and Polly's luminous, lace-trimmed silk dress embellished with decorative pearls also conveys the richness of planter society. Jeremiah Theüs often showed his subjects lit from above, as in this portrait.
