Joseph and Sarah Ann Emery

Date1834

MediumWatercolor with glazed highlights and pencil on wove paper

DimensionsSight: 13 1/2 × 13 3/8 in. (34.3 × 34 cm)

Object numberN0323.1961

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextIn this portrait of Joseph and Sarah Ann Emery, traces of pencil appear along the edges of the right side of the table, vertically through the center of the vase, and within the area of the inscription at the bottom of the composition. These outline markings indicate that Davis initially sketched his likenesses in pencil and afterwards filled in the areas of the images with watercolor. The artist seemingly devised his compositions this way to determine order and balance. However, this architectural, geometric approach resulted in severe regularity to Davis's work. Further evidence of the artist's preliminary work is found in the portrait of Trueworthy Chamberlain and Wife. A rough outline sketch of Mrs. Chamberlain was drawn by Davis on the verso of the piece and apparently discarded as unsuccessful. The elaborately ornamented ink inscriptions appearing along the bottom borders of many of Davis's portraits record information about the subjects such as their names, birthdates and ages at the time the portraits were completed. Joseph Emery was born on July 4, 1808, the son of James and Hannah Dunn Emery of Limerick, Maine. On June 12, 1836, he married Sarah Ann Libbey, who was born on September 19, 1815 to Ira and Fanny Libbey of North Berwick, Maine. The couple resided in Limington, Maine where they raised five children. Joseph died on March 11, 1866 and Sarah Ann followed on September 5, 1873.
Exhibition History“Three New England Watercolor Painters,” Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, November 16, 1974 – September 1, 1975.

“American Folk Painters of Three Centuries,” Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, February 26, 1980 – May 13, 1980.

“Uncommon Quilts: Treasures of the New York State Historical Association,” Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY, June 17, 1997 – August 29, 1997; Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, June 4, 1998 – July 19, 1998.
BibliographyEye of the Collector: Works from the Lipman Collection of American Art (exh. cat. Arizona State University Art Museum, 1999).

Jean Lipman, Robert Bishop, Elizabeth V. Warren, and Sharon L. Eisenstate, Five Star Folk Art: One Hundred American Masterpieces (New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Museum of American Folk Art, 1990).

Paul S. D’Ambrosio and Charlotte Emas Folk Art’s Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association (New York State Historical Association, 1987), pp. 58-64, 208.

Esther Sparks, “Joseph H. Davis,” American Folk Painters of Three Centuries eds. Jean Lipman and Tom Armstrong (New York: Hudson Hills Press Inc., 1980), pp.66-69.

Gail and Norbert H. Savage and Esther Sparks, Three New England Watercolor Painters (exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1974), pp.22-41.

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