Benjamin and Eleanor Ridgely Laming
Charles Willson Peale1788
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States
Charles Willson Peale was a major figure in American science and art during the revolutionary period. His faith in the educational value of art led him to establish a painting academy in Philadelphia as early as 1795. When that venture failed, Peale combined his scientific and artistic interests in a museum.
In 1788, the Lamings had asked him to do this double portrait. Peale's diary records his activity from 18 September, when he "sketched out the design" after dinner, to 5 October, when he added the final touches. Besides working on the picture, Peale studied natural history at the family's estate outside Baltimore.
Peale cleverly devised a leaning posture for the husband so that his bulk would not overshadow his petite wife. Moreover, this unusual, reclining attitude binds the couple closer together, telling of their love.
The setting, "view of part of Baltimore Town," is appropriate for a wealthy Maryland merchant. The spyglass indicates Laming's interest in shippage by sea, and the green parrot perched behind his leg may recall his birth in the West Indies. Mrs. Laming's fruit and flowers, although traditional emblems of innocence and fertility, could also refer to her own gardening. The detailed attention paid to the bird, plants, scenery, and telescope attests to Peale's encyclopedic knowledge.
More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication _American Paintings of the Eighteenth Centu_ry, pages 120-128, which is available as a free PDF at <u>https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf</u>
- Title: Benjamin and Eleanor Ridgely Laming
- Creator: Charles Willson Peale
- Date Created: 1788
- Physical Dimensions: overall: 106 x 152.5 cm (41 3/4 x 60 1/16 in.) framed: 125.1 x 171.5 x 7 cm (49 1/4 x 67 1/2 x 2 3/4 in.)
- Provenance: Mary Ridgely Palmer [Mrs. Henry Clay Palmer, 1852-1932], Baltimore.[1] Luke Vincent Lockwood [1872-1951] and his wife, Alice Gardner Burnell Lockwood [1874/1875-1954], Greenwich, Connecticut, by 1926;[2] (their sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 13-15 May 1954, no. 455).[3] Morris Schapiro [1882/1883-1969], Baltimore;[4] gift 1966 to NGA. [1] The portrait is not listed in Mr. Laming's will; he left his property, unitemized, to his wife (will, proved 14 December 1792, Maryland State Archives, Will Book 5, 68-69; copy in NGA curatorial file). Nor is it in Mrs. Laming's will or inventory (will, proved 24 October 1829; Maryland State Archives, Will Book 13, 294-297; inventory, 22 April 1831; Maryland State Archives, Will Book 39, 361-374; copies of both in NGA curatorial file). It probably came to Mrs. Palmer, the great-granddaughter of Mrs. Laming's brother John Ridgely [d.1814], through Ridgely's son Edward [1791-1852], who was Mrs. Laming's heir. Genealogical information on the Lamings was provided by Lynne Hastings of the Hampton National Historic site, Towson, Maryland, and in Edward C. Papenfuse _et al_., _A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789_, 2 vols. (Baltimore and London, 1985), 2:681-691. On Mrs. Palmer see Henry Fletcher Powell, _Tercentenary History of Maryland_, 4 vols. (Chicago and Baltimore, 1925), 4: 717, and her obituary in _The New York Times_, 18 March 1932, 21. [2] Mrs. Lockwood informed the Frick Art Reference Library of their ownership of the portrait on 18 March 1926 (letter from Helen Sanger, 24 August 1990, in NGA curatorial file). For the Lockwoods' dates see _Who Was Who in America_, (Chicago, 1951-1960), 3 (1963): 526 (Luke Vincent Lockwood) and _The New York Times_, 6 March 1954 (Mrs. Lockwood's obituary). The Lockwoods were collectors of American art and probably bought the painting from Mrs. Palmer. [3] Parke-Bernet Galleries, _XVII and XVIII Century American Furniture and Paintings, The Celebrated Collection Formed by the Late Mr. and Mrs. Luke Vincent Lockwood_, [13-15 May 1954], New York, 1954, 128, repro. 129. [4] Shapiro's obituary in _The New York Times_, 4 May 1969, identified him as the founder of the Boston Metals Company, Baltimore, and owner of the Laurel Race Course.
- Rights: CC0
- Medium: oil on canvas
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