Thomas Seir Cummings, Portrait Miniature of Eliza Cadwalder c1840
Directory: Fine Art: Paintings: Miniatures: Pre 1837 VR: Item # 1349312
Please refer to our stock # a1543 when inquiring.
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A finely executed watercolor on organic wafer bust-length depiction of an attractive sitter wearing a white gown, pearl earrings, and pearl brooch. Accompanied by an old typed and written note identifying the sitter and providing other information: "This beautiful miniature of my Grandmother, / Eliza Bowen Cadwalder, was given to me by my mother, who / treasured it. My Grandfather was George Cadwalder, / California pioneer who was an original Forty-niner and / mined gold in California. / Painted by Thomas Seir Cummings / bought from H. V. (?) Neil / N. Y. - Oct. 1941". Housed under glass in a gilt-brass oval frame within an ebonized surround.
The painting is in excellent condition, with no restoration, bowing, cracks, or other problems. The frame is in generally good condition with some veneer lifting at the top. Sight size is 2 3/4" by 2 1/4", and the frame size is 5" by 4 1/2".
NOTES: 1. Thomas Seir Cummings was born in England in 1804, and was taken to NYC as a child, where he remained until he retired in 1866. He died in NJ in 1894. Cummings became a student of Henry Inman in 1821 and after three years went into partnership with him, which lasted several years. With other artists including Nathaniel Rogers, Asher Durand, Henry Inman and S.F.B. Morse, he founded the National Academy of Design in 1826. Cummings later became one of the most successful miniaturist in the second quarter of the 19th century, and his works are in virtually every important museum in the U.S.
2.
One of his most famous pieces (shown in the fourth photo), a work truly unique in the world of miniaturists, is a bracelet he made with portraits of the first 9 children (of the eventual 14) that he and his wife, Jane Cook, had.
