Huldah Holmes Longstreet

Periodca. 1850

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions35.75 × 29 in. (90.8 × 73.7 cm)

ClassificationsPortraits

Credit LineGift of John S. Holmes, 1938

Object number1983.557

DescriptionThree-quarter portrait of a female facing left, seated in a maroon-upholstered side chair and holding a pink rose in her hands. She wears a black watered or moire silk dress accented with white lace sleeves, white lace collar enriched with pink ribbon, and a white under-collar with a pink floral pattern. The subject wears a comb in her hair, small gold earrings, a gold brooch, and a gold chain around her waist from which hangs a gold pen. A blue bound book rests on a table to her left that is covered with a red tablecloth ornamented with a small darker red floral pattern. A second pink rose rests on the book. A red drapery with a floral pattern forms the left edge of the work, which is accompanied by red ropes and a large tassel.

Curatorial RemarksOne of the most sensitively rendered portraits by Harvey Jenkins. Of special note is his skill at depicting the watered or moire silk dress of the subject.NotesHuldah Holmes Longstreet (1815 - 1889) was a daughter of Daniel Holmes and Rhoda Van Mater. Huldah had charge of her father's household and family after the death of her mother in 1838. She married Joseph Holmes Longstreet (1816 - 1856), a distant cousin, about 1850. They became the parents of two daughters. Huldah Holmes Longstreet continued to live in her father's house called the "Academy Farm" in Holmdel village until her death. She was baptised into the Holmdel Baptist Church about 1860 and was an active member. According to her obituary, she was a "large-hearted, generous woman, and always looked upon the right side of affairs."

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