Striking Portrait Miniature by Anson Dickinson c1814
Directory: Fine Art: Paintings: Miniatures: Pre 1837 VR: Item # 1456506
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A superbly painted miniature portrait by the important American miniaturist Anson Dickinson, originally in a heavy wooden frame that was damaged, but now housed under glass in one half of a dag case. The reverse of the original frame has quite a bit of information on it, indicating that the sitter is Ambrose Dickinson, one of Anson's nine siblings. (It might be appropriate at this point to briefly pause in sympathy for Anson's mom, even though she was an underachiever compared to the wife of Thomas Seir Cummings, who had 14 children.) However, Dickinson's work book seems to indicate that this might be a different sibling, or that the dating is not consistent.
The condition of the painting is very good, with rich colors. There had been a tight crack at the very top, above the sitter's head. This has been expertly repaired, and is barely visible even with a high power loupe. The size of the dag case is 3 1/2" by 3 1/8".
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Born in Milton, CT in 1779, Anson Dickinson did enamel work, made frames and painted signs before becoming a primarily self-taught but highly talented miniature painter. Early on, he probably met and learned from Elkanah Tisdale. In April 1802 Dickinson published an advertisement for miniature portrait painting in the Connecticut Journal, with his first known signed piece being dated 1803. In 1804 Dickinson had a painting of himself done by Thomas Malbone, who also mentored him. He began traveling in 1805, showing his work in a number of exhibitions between 1811 and 1815, including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design, and the Boston Athenaeum. In 1816 he was among the first to be elected to the American Academy of the Fine Arts. Dickinson visited and worked in various cities in the Northeast and was commissioned by many prominent members of society with Washington Irving, Sam Houston, and Gilbert Stuart being but a few. Dickinson returned to Milton in 1846 and died there after spending a peaceful 6 years gardening.
Much of Dickinson's early work reflects Malbone's style and it is often felt that his best works were those he painted earlier in his career. These works are mostly oval, while the portraits after 1820 are usually rectangular. Examples of his work are in the Metropolitan Museum, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Yale University Art Gallery, and other museums and major collections.
