Deborah Scott Little

Artist Micah Williams

PeriodCirca 1819

Place MadeMatawan, New Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumPastel on paper

DimensionsSight: 25.75 × 21.75 in. (65.4 × 55.2 cm)

ClassificationsPortraits

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Jude Laspa, 2019

Object number2019.19.2

DescriptionTwenty-seven year old blue-eyed Deborah Scott Little wears a black high-waisted, long-sleeved dress, most likely of silk, the ruffles on the wrists extending almost to her knuckles. Deborah wears a stiffly starched white collar with whitework embroidery along the edges. Her dark brown hair is worn parted in the middle, the front portions coiled flat at her temples and held by narrow tortoiseshell combs. A heavy coil of back hair is held by a large curved tortoiseshell comb. Deborah faces towards the right, her left hand supporting her right arm. In her right hand she holds [describe book...]. Deborah Little is depicted against a mottled soft blue background.
Curatorial RemarksArtist Micah Williams was born in 1782, possibly in the Hempstead area of Long Island, New York. His first career was that of a silverplater. By 1806, Williams was living and working in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. On Christmas eve of that year he married local resident Margaret Priestley. By 1814, Williams had suffered severe financial setbacks and ended the year in debtor's prison. After his release, he began a second career, that of traveling portrait artist. Williams would continue his artistic work for the next twenty years, producing hundreds of pastel portraits and a number of oil on canvas works. In 1828, Williams and his family relocated to Clinton Street in New York City, most likely to pursue his oil portrait work. In 1832, the Williams family moved back to New Brunswick, possibly to escape the cholera epidemic that broke out in the city. Williams appears to have continued his portrait business until 1835. In June of that year, a sudden tornado ripped through downtown New Brunswick, flattening every house in a three-block radius. Among the wounded listed in a newspaper article the following day was an "M. Williams," which may have been the artist. Williams died at the age of 55. The successful farmers and businessmen and their families of Monmouth County provided Micah Williams with a steady stream of portrait commissions for more than a decade. Williams could complete a portrait like that of William Little in a single day, beginning early in the morning and finishing up at nightfall. Williams also typically backed his pastel paper sheets with secondary newspaper sheets as additional support. These newspapers often provide a general date of a particuar portrait's completion. The Little portraits were originally backed with newspaper sheets dating to 1819.NotesDeborah Scott was one of eight children of Freehold resident James Scott (1751 - 1816) and Margaret Van Cleaf (1752 - 1839). She married William Little on 9 January 1814. Deborah Scott Little was about twenty-seven when she sat for her portrait. Deborah married her husband William Little (1780 - 1864) on January 9, 1814. Deborah had five children: James (30 November 1814 - 1 March 1843), William S. (20 January 1822 - 8 August 1822), Henry (17 August 1823 - 24 April 1904), Margaret (25 September 1825 - 1906), and Sarah Frances (6 June 1831 - 14 August 1838). Three of Deborah's and William's children reached adulthood. The couple endured heartache and loss. Their second son, William, died at the age of eight months, while their fifth child, daughter Sarah, was seven years old at the time of her death. Deborah's portrait reveals interesting clues as to the sitter's personality. For her portrait, Deborah chose to wear no jewelry. Instead, she holds in her hand a book, with the name "Watts" visible on the spine. It is most likely one of the many books written by English Congretational minister, theologian, hymnist, and writer Isaac Watts (1674 - 1748). Watts was widely influential in America during both the First and Second Great Awakenings, revivals of religious commitment that swept the country during the eighteenth and again in the nineteenth centuries. Although it is unknown which of Watts' numerous books Deborah is holding, it may well be "The Psalms of David." Watts' most published book, "The Psalms of David" went through numerous editions, including one published in America in 1814. Watts is best known today as the writer of "Joy To the World" and "Oh, God, Our Help In Ages Past." Deborah died on 26 August 1876 at the age of 84. She was interred next to her husband in Rose Hill Cemetery in Matawan.

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