Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), Portrait of Elmira Fiske (1823-1895), Dated “1828”

Inscribed on verso, “Elmira Fiske Painted by Rembrandt Peale, For Mrs. Elmira Adams. Boston, 1828,” oil on panel, framed.

19 ¼ in. x 14 ¼ in. (sight)

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Elmira Fiske was the daughter of Horatio Hancock Fiske (1790-1829) and Letitia Whittemore (1799-1891), a prominent couple of Arlington, Massachusetts. Elmira Fiske Adams (1792-1854) was the sitter's aunt and namesake. Elmira's grandfather, the Rev. Thaddeus Fiske (1762-1855), was a noted minister in the Cambridge-Arlington-Lexington area and lived for years in the historic Hancock-Clarke House. Elmira Fiske married George Benjamin Neal in 1850, and the couple resided in Cambridge. A number of personal and household items from the Fiske family are in the collection of the The Arlington Historical Society.

Provenance:

The Estate of a Collector, Pennsylvania.

selectively cleaned, background fluoresces green; with crazing to surface, some areas have been retouched above head and to either side of face / hair; some minor spots of retouching to hair and left-facing eye; frame is later

The physical condition of lots in our auctions can vary due to age, normal wear and tear, previous damage, and restoration/repair. All lots are sold "AS IS," in the condition they are in at the time of the auction, and we and the seller make no representation or warranty and assume no liability of any kind as to a lot's condition. Any reference to condition in a catalogue description or a condition report shall not amount to a full accounting of condition. Condition reports prepared by Freeman's staff are provided as a convenience and may be requested from the Department prior to bidding.

The absence of a posted condition report on the Freeman's website or in our catalogues should not be interpreted as commentary on an item's condition. Prospective buyers are responsible for inspecting a lot or sending their agent or conservator to inspect the lot on their behalf, and for ensuring that they have requested, received and understood any condition report provided by Freeman's.

Please email ataggart@freemansauction.com for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

To request further details about this lot, please email ataggart@freemansauction.com

Lynda Cain

VP, Head of Department, American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts

lyndacain@freemansauction.com 267.414.1237

Lynda Cain serves as a Vice President of Freeman's and is the Head of Department for American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts.
She specializes in American furniture and decorative arts, Native American art, American folk art, and Pennsylvania furniture and decorative arts.
Cain joined Freeman's in 2001 as the company's first American furniture and decorative arts specialist. She began her career in American Decorative Arts as assistant curator at the Detroit Historical Museum. In 1984 she became curator of costume at the Detroit Historical Museum. In 1986, she relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts and switched from museum work when she joined the American Furniture and Decorative Art Department at Skinner Inc., Bolton and Boston, Massachusetts. Before leaving New England in 1997, she had the great pleasure of directing the cataloguing project of the Folk Art Collection of Nine Fletcher and Bertram K. Little at Cogswell’s Grant, Essex, Massachusetts for the Society of the Preservation of New England Antiquities, now Historic New England. Ms. Cain joined the cast of the popular PBS series Antiques Roadshow in Season 19.
Growing up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, she was greatly influenced by the rich collections of American paintings, furniture, and decorative arts held by Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. She notes her good fortune of working in our two great “attic states:” Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Each Commonwealth has tremendous inventory of historic material, great institutions, and citizens who treasure their inherited and collected items. Cain appears on the television Antiques Roadshow as an appraiser of decorative and folk arts.

Andrew Taggart

Associate Vice President, Specialist, American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts

andrewtaggart@freemansauction.com 267.414.1225

American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), Portrait of Elmira Fiske (1823-1895), Dated “1828”

Lot Description

Condition Report

Preview

Auction Contact

Shipping | Pickup