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Elizabeth Ann Ferris Preston
Elizabeth Ann Ferris Preston
Attributed to (1797 - 1868)
Subject (died 1854)

Elizabeth Ann Ferris Preston

Datec. 1830
DimensionsSight: 27 3/8 × 25 1/2 in. (69.5 × 64.8 cm)
Object numberN0064.1985
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Museum Purchase
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextSheldon Peck became a portrait painter while living in Cornwall, Vermont and developed a signature style that included stiff frontal poses and sharp-edged, dour facial expressions. In 1828, Peck moved to Jordan, New York and later to Cato, where he remained until he moved to Illinois in 1836. Sheldon Peck's portraits of Andrews and Elizabeth Ann Ferris Preston painted in Cato, New York, where the Prestons owned a general store, illustrate the changes brought about by increased patronage as a result of the nearby Erie Canal. By focusing his attention on the sitters' faces and employing a simple, half-length composition, Peck kept sitting time to a minimum.
Exhibition History“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.

“Art of the Everyman: American Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, May 28, 2014 – September 29, 2014.
ProvenanceMr. Peter Tillou, Litchfield, Connecticut
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.119-122, illus. as no. 71 on p. 120.
On View
Not on view
Andrews Preston
Sheldon Peck
c. 1830
Sophia M. Pitkin
James Herring
1824
John R. Pitkin
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1810-1820
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5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

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