Portrait of Abigail Gowen (1759-1850)

Joseph Badger — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 02:48:04 -0400

Title	Portrait of Abigail Gowen (1759-1850)
Artist	Joseph Badger
Date	1763
Institution	Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Location	On view at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, G331

Half-length portrait painted in 1763. Her auburn hair is brushed back from her forehead and tied at the back of her neck with a white satin bow. A small bouquet of blue and white flowers with a white gauze bow is pinned on top of her head. Her dark eyes are directed to the spectator. She wears an olive green silk dress, the neck cut low and trimmed with a narrow white muslin ruffle and a bow of white satin ribbon is fastened at her breast. The sleeves with three long ruffles of the same material as the dress are of elbow length with a ruffle of white muslin (taken from 'Checklist of Portraits of Children painted by Joseph Badger,' 1923).