Ask the Scholar

Page 2 of 3
I can add historical knowledge about this page.

Page image

Page 2

Document source description

Bust-length, full face portrait of Mr. John T.(? or W.?) Pilling, with dark curly hair and moustache, wearing a dark blue coat with black velvet collar, gold buttons on coat, white shirt and high white collar and white stock tied in a bow. The frame claims that the portrait is of Edgar Allan Poe, but this was proved to be spurious when an inscription was found on the back of the portrait reading "Mr. John T. [or perhaps W.?] Pilling, Frankford, May 24th 1834." The attribution to Anna Claypoole Peale is also questionable.It is likely that the sitter is related to the factory owner Samuel Pilling who in about 1820 built one of the first mills for the block printing of calico in Frankford, a mill-town near Philadelphia. There are a number of references to John Pilling in 19th-century publications suggesting that he was a wealthy textile manufacturer in Newark, Delaware. This John Pilling seems to have married for the first time in 1851, at around the age of twenty-one, but this would not match with the date written on the back of the miniature, unless perhaps this indicates a date of birth, rather than the date at which the portrait was completed.

Page data

Page
2
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
ed3f3a35b3f3a132
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
9837
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "9837",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/38.465",
    "contentType": "object",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Mr. John T.(?) Pilling",
    "description": "Bust-length, full face portrait of Mr. John T.(? or W.?) Pilling, with dark curly hair and moustache, wearing a dark blue coat with black velvet collar, gold buttons on coat, white shirt and high white collar and white stock tied in a bow. The frame claims that the portrait is of Edgar Allan Poe, but this was proved to be spurious when an inscription was found on the back of the portrait reading \"Mr. John T. [or perhaps W.?] Pilling, Frankford, May 24th 1834.\" The attribution to Anna Claypoole Peale is also questionable.It is likely that the sitter is related to the factory owner Samuel Pilling who in about 1820 built one of the first mills for the block printing of calico in Frankford, a mill-town near Philadelphia. There are a number of references to John Pilling in 19th-century publications suggesting that he was a wealthy textile manufacturer in Newark, Delaware. This John Pilling seems to have married for the first time in 1851, at around the age of twenty-one, but this would not match with the date written on the back of the miniature, unless perhaps this indicates a date of birth, rather than the date at which the portrait was completed.",
    "provenance": "Peale family, Philadelphia, until 1930; A.J. Fink, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; A.J. Fink Foundation, Inc., Baltimore, 1963, by bequest; Walters Art Museum, 1963, by gift.",
    "date": "1834",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/38.465",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Miniatures",
        "miniatures (paintings)",
        "portraits"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS3_38.465_Fnt_DD_T13.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS3_38.465_Fnt_DD_T13.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS3_38.465_Fnt_DD_T13.jpg",
    "imageCount": 3,
    "pageCount": 3,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
        {
            "units": "cm",
            "width": 8.4,
            "height": 7
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "H excluding frame: 3 5/16 x 2 3/4 in. (8.41 x 6.99 cm); Framed H: 5 1/2 x W: 4 3/4 in. (13.97 x 12.07 cm)"
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity
{
    "localId": "9837",
    "label": "Mr. John T.(?) Pilling",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/38.465"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "9837",
    "sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/38.465",
    "contentType": "object",
    "stage": "normalized",
    "title": "Mr. John T.(?) Pilling",
    "description": "Bust-length, full face portrait of Mr. John T.(? or W.?) Pilling, with dark curly hair and moustache, wearing a dark blue coat with black velvet collar, gold buttons on coat, white shirt and high white collar and white stock tied in a bow. The frame claims that the portrait is of Edgar Allan Poe, but this was proved to be spurious when an inscription was found on the back of the portrait reading \"Mr. John T. [or perhaps W.?] Pilling, Frankford, May 24th 1834.\" The attribution to Anna Claypoole Peale is also questionable.It is likely that the sitter is related to the factory owner Samuel Pilling who in about 1820 built one of the first mills for the block printing of calico in Frankford, a mill-town near Philadelphia. There are a number of references to John Pilling in 19th-century publications suggesting that he was a wealthy textile manufacturer in Newark, Delaware. This John Pilling seems to have married for the first time in 1851, at around the age of twenty-one, but this would not match with the date written on the back of the miniature, unless perhaps this indicates a date of birth, rather than the date at which the portrait was completed.",
    "provenance": "Peale family, Philadelphia, until 1930; A.J. Fink, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; A.J. Fink Foundation, Inc., Baltimore, 1963, by bequest; Walters Art Museum, 1963, by gift.",
    "date": "1834",
    "citationUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/38.465",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Miniatures",
        "miniatures (paintings)",
        "portraits"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS3_38.465_Fnt_DD_T13.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS3_38.465_Fnt_DD_T13.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/art/PS3_38.465_Fnt_DD_T13.jpg",
    "imageCount": 3,
    "pageCount": 3,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensions": [
        {
            "units": "cm",
            "width": 8.4,
            "height": 7
        }
    ],
    "dimensionsRaw": "H excluding frame: 3 5/16 x 2 3/4 in. (8.41 x 6.99 cm); Framed H: 5 1/2 x W: 4 3/4 in. (13.97 x 12.07 cm)"
}
Document source extras
{
    "inscriptions": [
        "[Plaque] On front of frame: Edgar Allan Poe by Anna Claypoole Peale; [Inscription] On back of miniature: Mr. John T. Pilling / Frankford / May 24th 1834; [Label] Attached to back of miniature: State of Pennsylvania",
        "/ County of Philadelphia. / The miniature of Edgar Allan Poe by Ann Peale has always been in our family and has never been out of the family until recently sold by me.; [Signature] A. R. Peale Jr.; [Stamp] NOTARY PUBLIC / 200 Germantown Ave / COMMISSION EXPIRES ... /  ... session of senate; [Inscription] Sworn to + Subscribed before me this / 8th day of April A.D. 1930 / Essie P. Ottinger"
    ],
    "med": "watercolor on ivory",
    "creator_ids": [
        "4636"
    ],
    "collection_ids": [
        "EAN"
    ],
    "exhibition_ids": []
}
Page context
{
    "seq": 2,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://art.thewalters.org/images/raw/PS3_38.465_Back_DD_T13.jpg",
    "mediaId": "ed3f3a35b3f3a132"
}