Sylvanus C. Foss and Mary Jane Foss1836Sheet: 10 3/4 x 15 " (27.3 x 38.1 cm)
Frame: 19 x 23 x 1 " (48.1 x 58.6 x 2.5 cm)Watercolor, pencil, and ink on paperGift of Ralph Esmerian2013.1.140Double portrait of brother (LS) and sister (RS) seated at grain-paintd table in blue klismos-style chairs on geometric and floral patterned band of carpeting, with romantic landscape surrounded by swags of evergreens on wall behind. Young man wearing black suit w/light vest (P) left hand retrieving book from pile on table, (P) right hand holding open book on lap; top hat on table, center. Young woman wearing black dress with full sleeves and shawl with embroidered fringed border. Apron with lace work on bottom.
Open music book on table before her, vase of flowrs on table, potted flowers on floor below table.15479740382013.24.14P1.2001.34Joseph H. DavisDrawingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.Below carpet band, across bottom in black ink calligraphic hand: (LS) "Sylvanus C. Foss. Painted at the age of 17. Decembr 24th"; (center) "PAINTED/AT/STRAFFORD-/RIDGE. APRIL 13TH 1836"; (RS) "Mary Jane Foss. Painted at the age of 24 May 6th"StraffordStraffordUnited StatesNew HampshireWorks on PaperStraffordArthur and Sybil Kern,"Joseph H. Davis: Identity Established," The Clarion Volume 14, Number 3 (Summer 1989) 49.Davis also painted Harriet T. Foss at the age of 23 in 1836. Sylvanus Cushman Foss born Dec 24 1819, Strafford Ridge, Strafford, NH, parents William and Sally Foss, married Lydia Drew Foss June 6 1839.The complacency of middle-class Americans in the age of improvement is brilliantly captured by the artist Joseph H. Davis, who worked primarily in Maine and New Hampshire. Many of his sitters were members of the Freewill Baptist Church, a religious affiliation that is sometimes indicated by the presence of such attributes as the church’s newspaper, the Morning Star. The northern branch of the Freewill Baptists was founded in New Durham, New Hampshire; Davis drew siblings Sylvanus and Mary Foss in nearby Strafford. The achievements of each are indicated through elements included in their portrait, Sylvanus the scholar and Mary Jane’s musical proficiency. The material comfort of their lives is communicated through beautiful fancy furniture: the grain-painted table and the blue klismos chairs standing on a gaily colored carpet or floor cloth. Davis presents a similar picture of perfect equanimity in the many watercolors he painted between 1832 and 1837. The sitters, many of whom were related by marriage or proximity, are not distinguished by the perspicacity with which Davis limned their features. On the contrary, there is little individualization. Rather, Davis created a picture of community and cultural refinement through symmetrical arrangements of persons united by their comfortable and colorful homes, fine clothes, and tasteful art.
Many of the drawings feature a finely calligraphed legend naming the sitters, date, and place; sometimes Davis included his own name and described himself as a “Left Hand Painter.” Identifying the artist has proved to be difficult; he may be the Joseph Davis (1811–1865) who was born in Limington, Maine, and died in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Sylvanus C. Foss and Mary Jane Foss,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgDouble portrait of brother (LS) and sister (RS) seated at grain-paintd table in blue klismos-style chairs on geometric
and floral patterned band of carpeting, with romantic landscape surrounded by swags of evergreens on wall behind. Young man wearing black suit w/light vest (P) left hand retrieving book from pile on table, (P) right hand holding open book on lap; top hat on table, center. Young woman wearing black dress with full sleeves and shawl with embroidered fringed border. Apron with lace work on bottom.
Open music book on table before her, vase of flowrs on table, potted flowers on floor below table.2013.24.14P1.2001.3418361836 2013 1 14 Davis also painted Harriet T. Foss at the age of 23 in 1836. Sylvanus Cushman Foss born Dec 24 1819, Strafford Ridge, Strafford, NH, parents William and Sally Foss, married Lydia Drew Foss June 6 1839.The complacency of middle-class Americans in the age of improvement is brilliantly captured by the artist Joseph H. Davis, who worked primarily in Maine and New Hampshire. Many of his sitters were members of the Freewill Baptist Church, a religious affiliation that is sometimes indicated by the presence of such attributes as the church’s newspaper, the Morning Star. The northern branch of the Freewill Baptists was founded in New Durham, New Hampshire; Davis drew siblings Sylvanus and Mary Foss in nearby Strafford. The achievements of each are indicated through elements included in their portrait, Sylvanus the scholar and Mary Jane’s musical proficiency. The material comfort of their lives is communicated through beautiful fancy furniture: the grain-painted table and the blue klismos chairs standing on a gaily colored carpet or floor cloth. Davis presents a similar picture of perfect equanimity in the many watercolors he painted between 1832 and 1837. The sitters, many of whom were related by marriage or proximity, are not distinguished by the perspicacity with which Davis limned their features. On the contrary, there is little individualization. Rather, Davis created a picture of community and cultural refinement through symmetrical arrangements of persons united by their comfortable and colorful homes, fine clothes, and tasteful art.
Many of the drawings feature a finely calligraphed legend naming the sitters, date, and place; sometimes Davis included his own name and described himself as a “Left Hand Painter.” Identifying the artist has proved to be difficult; he may be the Joseph Davis (1811–1865) who was born in Limington, Maine, and died in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Sylvanus C. Foss and Mary Jane Foss,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgDouble portrait of brother (LS) and sister (RS) seated at grain-paintd table in blue klismos-style chairs on geometric
and floral patterned band of carpeting, with romantic landscape surrounded by swags of evergreens on wall behind. Young man wearing black suit w/light vest (P) left hand retrieving book from pile on table, (P) right hand holding open book on lap; top hat on table, center. Young woman wearing black dress with full sleeves and shawl with embroidered fringed border. Apron with lace work on bottom.
Open music book on table before her, vase of flowrs on table, potted flowers on floor below table.