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Portraits of a Lady and a Gentleman, unknown subjects, unsigned but readily identifiable as the work of Frederick Mayhew (1785-1854) of Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard, MA, an obscure American "Limner" and portrait painter active in Southeast Massachusetts between 1809 and 1834. Oil on canvas, relined, in period, if not the original, frames, 28" x 33".
Price: $11,000 for the Pair
Many of Frederick Mayhew's works are exhibited in museums, such as the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Most known examples are signed and dated, but his technique is readily identifiable. Mayhew is an example of the unique American style developed after the American Revolution, when many of the more established English and European artists had returned home to avoid the hostilities. His earliest portraits were done in profile, and much of his early frontal portraits are flat and somewhat primitive.
For more information on Frederick Mayhew, see pp. 88-102, Paintings & Portrait Making in the American Northeast, The Dublin Seminar for the Boston University Press, 1994; and pp. 25-33, The Clarion, a Publication of the Museum of American Folk Art, NYC, Spring 1983.
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