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Source Description

Waist-length portrait of Charles Smith Gilmor (1817-1866) of Baltimore, with brown hair and close-cropped beard, blue eyes, wearing a black coat with black velvet collar, dark green vest showing slightly, and a white shirt with a brown and white bow tie. Charles Smith Gilmor was the eighth son of William Gilmor. He was likely closely related to Robert Gilmor, the prominent Baltimore merchant and art collector. Charles also seems to have had an art collection, which included Old Masters and at least one contemporary work by William Sidney Mount, transferred to him by Robert. A Charles Gilmor is listed in the 1860 Baltimore city directory as Baltimore County's coal agent. Charles appears to have married twice, secondly to Charlotte Patterson (Christened 1820 in Baltimore) in 1839. Her parents are listed as Charlotte Nichols and Joseph Patterson, a wealthy iron merchant and importer who was elected president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1837. She appears to have moved in the same social circles as the Gilmor's. A portrait of her dated to ca. 1840-45 can be found in the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (1976.12.3). It is approximately the same size as this miniature, and a section of the background is a very similar color. In addition the paint in some sections of both miniature has become translucent. The Yale miniature is likely in its original travaling case, whereas the Walters' portrait has been reworked for hanging. Husband and wife look in opposite directions, and therefore when the portraits were placed together with the husband on the left and the wife on the right would have looked towards one another.George Lethbridge Saunders was born in Bristol, England. The facts of his life are sparse. He exhibited in London between 1829 and 1839 and subsequently in 1851 and 1853. Evidence suggests Saunders spent the decade of the 1840s in the United States, where he exhibited works at the Apollo Art Association and at the Artists' Fund Society in Philadelphia. He is also known to have worked in Baltimore, Savannah and Charleston. After his return to England, little is known of his life or career. He died in Bristol in 1863.The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York own several works by Saunders, including one with an inscription giving the location as Baltimore and the date as 1841, it is therefore possible that both the Walters and Yale portraits date from around that time, which was close to Charles Smith Gilmor's marriage to Charlotte Patterson in 1839.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
5995
label
Charles Smith Gilmor
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
4
Source metadata
id
5995
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Charles Smith Gilmor
description
Waist-length portrait of Charles Smith Gilmor (1817-1866) of Baltimore, with brown hair and close-cropped beard, blue eyes, wearing a black coat with black velvet collar, dark green vest showing slightly, and a white shirt with a brown and white bow tie. Charles Smith Gilmor was the eighth son of William Gilmor. He was likely closely related to Robert Gilmor, the prominent Baltimore merchant and art collector. Charles also seems to have had an art collection, which included Old Masters and at least one contemporary work by William Sidney Mount, transferred to him by Robert. A Charles Gilmor is listed in the 1860 Baltimore city directory as Baltimore County's coal agent. Charles appears to have married twice, secondly to Charlotte Patterson (Christened 1820 in Baltimore) in 1839. Her parents are listed as Charlotte Nichols and Joseph Patterson, a wealthy iron merchant and importer who was elected president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1837. She appears to have moved in the same social circles as the Gilmor's. A portrait of her dated to ca. 1840-45 can be found in the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (1976.12.3). It is approximately the same size as this miniature, and a section of the background is a very similar color. In addition the paint in some sections of both miniature has become translucent. The Yale miniature is likely in its original travaling case, whereas the Walters' portrait has been reworked for hanging. Husband and wife look in opposite directions, and therefore when the portraits were placed together with the husband on the left and the wife on the right would have looked towards one another.George Lethbridge Saunders was born in Bristol, England. The facts of his life are sparse. He exhibited in London between 1829 and 1839 and subsequently in 1851 and 1853. Evidence suggests Saunders spent the decade of the 1840s in the United States, where he exhibited works at the Apollo Art Association and at the Artists' Fund Society in Philadelphia. He is also known to have worked in Baltimore, Savannah and Charleston. After his return to England, little is known of his life or career. He died in Bristol in 1863.The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York own several works by Saunders, including one with an inscription giving the location as Baltimore and the date as 1841, it is therefore possible that both the Walters and Yale portraits date from around that time, which was close to Charles Smith Gilmor's marriage to Charlotte Patterson in 1839.
provenance
Acquired by Abraham Jay Fink, Baltimore; by bequest to A. J. Fink Foundation, Inc., Baltimore, 1963; given to Walters Art Museum, 1963.
date
1840-1850
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
miniatures (paintings)
portraits
imageCount
4
pageCount
4
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
11.1
height
8.3
dimensionsRaw
H excluding frame: 4 3/8 x W: 3 1/4 in. (11.11 x 8.26 cm); H with frame: 6 1/4 x W: 5 in. (15.88 x 12.7 cm)
Source extras
med
watercolor on ivory
creator_ids
5737
collection_ids
EAN
exhibition_ids
3225
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
8e922b9a373768b6
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
1ad9d04d8d98709d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
9942bcf755f38de5
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
ef78921da735df4e
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no