Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Mother & Child of Fenton Family
Mother & Child of Fenton Family
Artist (American)

Mother & Child of Fenton Family

Datec. 1840
DimensionsSight: 9 13/16 × 7 7/8 in. (24.9 × 20 cm)
Object numberN0018.1958
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Museum Purchase
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextThe hair attached to the surface of these portraits is probably from the sitters. It serves as a token of remembrance. Even after photography made lasting images available to the public, hair was the one item that would most effectively evoke memories of
a person.

These portraits are part of a set of five that depict the members of the Fenton family who resided in either New York state or Connecticut.
Exhibition History“The Folk Art of New York State,” The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, Williamsburg, VA, March 15, 1959 – May 10, 1959.
BibliographyPaul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, "Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association," Cooperstown: NYSHA, 1987, pp. 194-197, illus. as no. 134 on p. 195.
On View
Not on view
Doll
Inuit
c. 1940
Emeline Boynton
Henry Walton
1845
Boy of the Fenton Family
Unidentified Artist
1835-1845
Ann Van Lew
Henry Walton
1843
Man of the Fenton Family
Unidentified Artist
c. 1840
Maine Family
Unidentified Artist
c. 1850
Nancy Couch
Henry Walton
1836
Portrait of a Woman
Micah Williams
1810-1815
Girl of the Fenton Family
Unidentified Artist
c. 1840

5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

close

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required