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American Portrait Miniature of a Woman in a White Gown, Thomas Story Officer
$7,500
£5,711.09
€6,576.17
CA$10,628.16
A$11,432.11
CHF 6,109.65
MX$134,751.97
NOK 77,028.37
SEK 70,418.55
DKK 49,135.09
About the Item
American Portrait Miniature: Woman in a White Gown
Thomas Story Officer (1810–1859)
Watercolor on Ivory, Gilded Frame
Circa 1830–1836,
Philadelphia
This exquisite American portrait miniature, signed by Thomas Story Officer, captures the likeness of a confident young woman during the height of the Romantic era in American fashion. The subject is rendered in the demanding medium of watercolor on ivory, a tradition deeply rooted in intimacy and remembrance.
The sitter, whose identity is now lost, is depicted three-quarters left, her gaze directed outward with a striking directness. Her striking red hair is styled high in a complex, fashionable knot, reminiscent of the popular Coiffure à la Chinoise. She is clad in an elegant white gown, likely a silk or fine muslin evening dress, distinguished by short, full, puffed sleeves and a low, horizontal neckline. A small, decorative pin secures the fabric at the center of her chest. The woman is seated in what appears to be a plush red chair, contrasting with the soft, atmospheric background.
The miniature's power lies in Officer’s masterful command of watercolor applied to ivory. Since ivory is non-absorbent, the artist achieved the subtle gradations of skin tone and the luminous translucency of the white gown through meticulous stippling and thin layers of wash. This technique allows the ivory ground itself to serve as the inherent light source, giving the sitter an idealized, ethereal glow. The artwork is secured in an ornate, possibly gilded, frame designed to be intimate and portable. The reverse features a small oval glass pane, a characteristic element in period miniatures often reserved for a private memento, typically a lock of the sitter's hair.
Signature: The work is signed to the lower right, "T.S. Officer, Pinxt." The Latin abbreviation Pinxt (Pinxit, meaning 'he painted it') was a conventional academic flourish used by skilled artists to affirm their professional status and distinguish their handcrafted work from purely commercial likenesses—a subtle but important assertion of legitimacy in a market increasingly threatened by new technology.
The Zenith of Romantic Fashion (c. 1830–1836)
The style of the sitter's dress and hair are crucial chronological indicators, firmly placing this miniature in the earliest phase of Officer’s career in Philadelphia. The 1830s represented the peak of Romanticism in fashion, characterized by "ebullient energy" and bold forms.
• High-Volume Aesthetic: The short, voluminous puffed sleeves, low neckline, and dramatic verticality of the hairstyle epitomize the popular early 1830s silhouette.
• The Victorian Pivot: The portrait predates a significant cultural shift that occurred around 1836. Following Queen Victoria’s ascension in 1837, fashion retreated from exuberance into a "drooping sentimentality," prioritizing modesty, simplicity, and restraint. The boldness of the woman in the miniature is stylistically antithetical to the subsequent Victorian ideal, confirming the c. 1830–1836 dating.
The Artist’s Philadelphia Practice
Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1810, Thomas Story Officer established his career in the competitive metropolitan art scene of Philadelphia. He trained under Thomas Sully , one of America’s foremost portrait painters, absorbing Sully’s celebrated Romantic style that prioritized soft modeling and idealized grace. Although the Carlisle Weekly Herald noted in May 1834 that Officer was "...principally self-taught, and although young, already evinced a degree of taste, judgment, and talent...”, formal training with Sully was essential for Officer to establish a "thriving practice" in the city during the mid-1830s.
III. The End of a Profession: Officer and the Photographic Threat
Officer’s career tragically spanned the moment when the art of miniature painting reached its apex and then suffered a near-fatal collapse due to technological change.
The Daguerreotype Rupture: With the introduction of the daguerreotype in 1839, "Daguerreotypemania" quickly swept the nation. The ability of the camera to capture an accurate likeness quickly and affordably destroyed the market for handcrafted portraits on ivory. As the historian James Miller McKim later noted, Officer was "one of the last miniature painters of any eminence produced by this country, the daguerreotype and photographer having come in to sweep away the entire profession."
The Itinerant Survival Strategy: The instability of the portrait market forced Officer into a life of constant travel, seeking commissions in locations less saturated by competitors or less immediately influenced by photography. His itinerancy took him from Philadelphia to Mobile, Alabama (1837), Richmond, Virginia (1845), and New York City (1846–1849), with documented plans for travel to Mexico in 1842.
Final Adaptation: By the 1850s, after traveling as far as Australia, Officer settled in San Francisco. Here, he pragmatically joined the burgeoning photographic industry, setting up a portrait painting department within James Johnson’s photographic gallery. This final professional pivot—applying his miniature skills (such as delicate hand-coloring and stippling) to hand-finish and embellish mechanically produced photographs—is emblematic of how traditional artists had to adapt to retain economic value in the new era of mechanical image-making.
Despite his adaptability, Officer's life ended tragically. His career, cut short by a documented drinking problem, concluded in "pecuniary distress" and death in poverty in San Francisco in 1859. The existence of Woman in a White Gown is therefore a moving historical document, representing not only a beautiful artistic achievement but also the professional ideal of a craft that was rapidly rendered obsolete by the march of technology. Officer's biography can also be found in Theodore Bolton's Early American Portrait Painters in Miniature, published in 1921.
Primary and Documentary Sources
• Carlisle Weekly Herald. May 28, 1834. (Reported on Officer’s early portrait commissions).
• McKim, James Miller. Reminiscences published in the Carlisle Herald, 1872. (Commentary on Officer as one of the last eminent miniature painters before the rise of photography).
Biographical and Scholarly Monographs
• Bolton, Theodore. Early American Portrait Painters in Miniature. New York: F. F. Sherman, 1921. (Contains a biography of Thomas S. Officer on page 117).
• Schaumann, Merri Lou. “Thomas S. Officer: Miniature and Portrait Painter.” Gardner Digital Library Encyclopedia. (Details Officer's birth, training with Thomas Sully, itinerancy, San Francisco career, and contains reference to primary newspaper sources).
Institutional and Art Historical Context
• Metropolitan Museum of Art. Artwork Details for Holy Eyes (1848) by Thomas Story Officer. (Confirms the medium of watercolor on ivory in later works).
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. “The History of Portrait Miniatures.” (Provides context on the intimate function, the medium of watercolor on ivory, and the technical skill required for the non-absorbent ground).
• Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Artist Page for Thomas S. Officer (1810–1859). (Confirms training with Thomas Sully, subsequent itinerancy, and notes the impact of alcoholism and poverty on his later career).
Art, Fashion, and Photography History
• Big Think. “How Photography Changed Painting and Vice Versa.” (Discusses the impact of the 1839 Daguerreotype introduction, or “Daguerreotypemania,” and the resulting competition and subsequent alliance between art and photography).
• Fashion History Timeline, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). “1830–1839.” (Provides analysis of the 1830s fashion silhouette, the low neckline, puffed sleeves, and the chronological shift toward modesty after 1836/1837).
• Matthews, Mimi. “The 1830s in Fashionable Gowns: A Visual Guide to the Decade.” (Further details on the “exuberantly romantic” early 1830s aesthetic and the specific elements of short, full sleeves in evening attire).
• Wikipedia contributors. “Hand-colouring of photographs.” (Explains the practice of artists applying watercolor and other paints to photographic surfaces in the mid-19th century, representing Officer's final adaptation).
(Ref: NY9919-knrr)
- Dimensions:Height: 2.5 in (6.35 cm)Width: 2 in (5.08 cm)Depth: 0.25 in (6.35 mm)
- Style:American Empire (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Ivory
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1830s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Downingtown, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: NY9919-knrr1stDibs: LU861030839282
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