Portrait of Eleanor Ramsay Fitzwilliam

c. 1790–1852

Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin

(French, 1770–1852)

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Culture

France

Medium

Black and white chalk on buff paper with pink wash in original frame

Measurements

Framed: 40.6 x 31.7 cm (16 x 12 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Alma Kroeger Fund 2024.35.2

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The physiognotrace device used to create this portrait consisted of a wooden frame within which a sitter posed in profile; the artist then peered through an eyepiece and followed the contour and features of the sitter’s face by maneuvering a graphite pencil attached to the mechanism.

Description

This portrait and its pair (2024.35.1), depict George Fitzwilliam, an English merchant, and his American wife Eleanor Ramsay Fitzwilliam, who sat in New York for the French émigré artist Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin. Saint-Mémin used a recently invented mechanical device called a physiognotrace to trace accurate profiles of his sitters, which he then completed in black and white chalks. The technology enabled Saint-Mémin to establish a thriving business catering to prominent Americans—including Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and several Native American chiefs—at a time when he was in exile from the French Revolution. As part of each commission, Saint-Mémin also supplied etchings of the portrait in a reduced size, which could be given as keepsakes to family and friends.