Portrait of Jane Jeffrey Renwick (Mrs. William Renwick, 1774-1850)
Abstract
A half-length portrait of a seated woman turned three-quarters to her left wearing a white cap, black dress with a high collar, and white shawl with flowered border. She holds a book in her left hand. In the left background is a fluted column, and in the center there is maroon-colored drapery raised at the right to reveal a landscape with flowering bushes and a stormy sky.
Accession Number
C00.0671
Subjects
Renwick, Jane Jeffrey, 1773 or 1774-1850
Format
paintings
Culture
American (North American)
Genre
portraits
Origin Information
United States
Date
Early 19th century
Physical Description
1 painting ; 34 x 26 9/16 in. (86.4 x 67.5 cm), with frame: 44 3/8 x 37 1/16 in. (112.8 x 94.2 cm)
Note (Medium/support)
Oil on panel
Note (Ownership)
Bequest of Henry Renwick Sedgwick, 1946
Note
Jane Jeffrey (aka Jane Jaffray) was born and raised in Scotland, the daughter of Rev. Andrew Jeffrey. The poet Robert Burns dedicated his poem "My Blue Eyed Lassie" to her; his mother reportedly worked for the Jeffrey family. Jane Jeffrey married a Li verpool merchant named William Renwick, and they eventually settled in New York. Their son, James Renwick, graduated from Columbia College in 1807 and later became a Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry at Columbia.