Woman with Gold Necklace

Prior-Hamblen School, Woman with Gold Necklace, ca. 1850, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.134
Copied Prior-Hamblen School, Woman with Gold Necklace, ca. 1850, oil on canvas, 27 1⁄8 x 22 1⁄4 in. (69 x 56.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.134
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Artwork Details

Title
Woman with Gold Necklace
Artist
Attributed to Prior-Hamblen School
Date
ca. 1850
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
27 1⁄8 x 22 1⁄4 in. (69 x 56.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture Interior — detail — window
  • Portrait female — unidentified — waist length
  • Dress — accessory — jewelry
Object Number
1986.65.134
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.134

Artwork Description

Woman with Gold Necklace combines the Prior-Hamblin School’s enthusiasm for portraiture, ornamental painting, and landscape scenery. Aside from a lively business in portraiture, William Matthew Prior painted several landscape scenes, which he referred to as “fancy pieces,” a term used in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century to describe a variety of arts such as decorative painting, knitting, and quilting. His advertisements boasted that he worked “in a very tasty style.” (Vlach, Plain Painters: Making Sense of American Folk Art, 1988)