Painting:Portrait of Mary Childs

An accident at the age of eleven left Joseph Whiting Stock, the artist of this painting, crippled from the waist down. On a doctor's advice he began to study painting at the age of 17, with a wheelchair specially designed for him so that he could begin a career as an itinerant portrait painter. He specialized in children's portraits, as this work demonstrates. He painted Mary Childs with her favorite doll and a tea set in the background, and either a costly oriental rug, or more likely a floorcloth painted to resemble one, under her feet. She is fashionably attired in appropriate clothing for the time period. Only wealthy families could afford to have their childrens' portraits painted in the middle of the 19th century. No doubt Mary's family was well-to-do. Stock worked in the New England area and many of his portraits of children survive in museums and private collections.