Sheldon Peck (1797-1868)

With piercing eyes, prominent brows and a locked, serious gaze, this portrait exhibits classic trademarks of Sheldon Peck's early Vermont work. Painted on panel and set in half-length against a spare, dark background, the subject's bonnet is embellished with Peck’s signature three stroke decorative motif often referred to as a rabbit paw. This powerful portrait relates to early works such as the portraits of Mary Parker Peck (c. 1824), the painter's sister in-law, and Mrs. Murray (c. 1825), both discussed and illustrated in Marianne E. Balazs, "Sheldon Peck," The Magazine Antiques (August 1975), plate II and figure 4, pp. 273-84.