Mrs. Barnard Elliott, Jr. (Mary Elizabeth Bellinger Elliott)

Colonel Elliott and his first wife, also his first cousin, were married in 1766, the probable date for their portraits. Described in her obituary as "most amiable and excellent," Mrs. Elliott died in childbirth. Not only larger than the usual portriat by Theus, the Elliott portraits incorporate backgrounds: column bases and views of a landscape to the right. The Colonel's outfit may be an elaboration of the artillery's dress uniform, while Mrs. Elliott's was probably borrowed from an English source of a painting or print. Its overwrought finery belies her youth.