Harriet Mackie, "The Dead Bride"

Artist Jean Francois de Vallee

Periodca. 1804

Place MadeSouth Carolina

MediumWatercolor on ivory

Dimensionsminiature: 3.5 × 2.25 in. (8.9 × 5.7 cm)
closed case: 4.38 × 3.5 × 0.75 in. (11.1 × 8.9 × 1.9 cm)

ClassificationsPortrait Miniatures & Silhouettes

Credit LineBequest of Charles Vanderveer, 1983

Object number1983.7.117.2

DescriptionWatercolor on ivory of a young woman after death, reposed on a white ruffled pillow. She wears a white veil wreathed with white flowers, and a low-necked ruffled white dress. Her pale blonde hair is visible under the veil. The image is set into a molded gilt frame with a large loop affixed to the top.
Curatorial RemarksArtist Jean Francois de Vallee was a French miniaturist and silhouettist, active in the United States from 1794 - 1828.NotesPer information provided by Yale University Art Gallery, this mournful portrait miniature is of eighteen-year-old Harriet Mackie on her deathbed. She was poisoned by her sewing woman on the eve of her wedding and is buried in St. Michael's churchyard in Charleston, South Carolina. This portrait is identical to one in the collection of Yale University Art Gallery; often, duplicate portraits were produced for various family members.

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