Robert Hartshorne

Periodca. 1901

MediumWatercolor on ivory, gold, glass, lacquered wood frame

DimensionsImage: 3 × 2.38 in. (7.6 × 6 cm)
Case: 6.38 × 5.75 in. (16.2 × 14.6 cm)

InscribedA paper label pasted to the back of the frame bares the handwritten ink inscription "Robt Hartshorne / born mch 14 1798 / died July 18th 1872"

SignedSigned by the artist on the lower left "Laura Hills"

ClassificationsPortrait Miniatures & Silhouettes

Credit LineGift of Mary Minturn Adams in memory of her Hartshorne Ancestors, 2018

Object number2018.10.10

DescriptionAn oval miniature portrait of Robert Hartshorne in watercolor on ivory set into a black wood lacquered frame with a gold inner ring and glass bezel, and retaining its original brass hanging ring. Robert Hartshorne poses in 3/4 view facing right. Robert wears a pair of gold rimmed oval spectacles. His thinning and graying dark brown hair is worn brushed back and slightly long and curling above his collar. His white shirt collar peeps above his heavy black stock. Robert wears a black vest and coat. The sitter poses in front of a murky purplish-blue backdrop with green undertones.
Curatorial RemarksThis miniature dates from about 1896 - 1900, and is based on a carte-de-visite photograph of Hartshorne. It was apparently painted when his namesake grandson Robert and his wife Margaret Willis Hartshorne had their miniatures taken by Miss Hills, Laura Coombs Hills (1859 - 1952) was a New England artist from Newburyport, MA. She became one of the leading painters of portrait miniatures on ivory during that medium's revival period. From 1890 to 1933, she executed 369 miniatures. But by the mid 1920s, Hills moved on to floral works in pastel, for which she is most widely recognized today.NotesRobert Hartshorne was born on 14 March 1798, the only son of Robert Hartshorne (1752 - 1831) and Susanna P. Ustick (1760 - 1833). He graduated from Yale College in 1817 with a B.A. degree, having been elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Afterward he devoted himself to agriculture on his Portland estate. On 2 April 1823, Robert married Mary Ann Minturn (1802 - 1861), a daughter of his first cousin Mary Bowne (1774 - 1852), and her husband Benjamin G. Minturn (1771 - 1845). They became the parents of eight children, five of whom died at early ages unmarried. Robert was known as a man of clear judgement, stern integrity, and remarkable firmness. He fought successfully against the effort of the State of New York to locate a quarantine facility on Sandy Hook. Robert suffered a stroke in February of 1867 which left him physically handicapped. He died on 18 July 1872, at the age of seventy-four.

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