$1,528
American School, 19th Century Pair of Miniature Portraits of James M. Whiton and Mary F. Whiton of Boston. Unsigned. The sitters identified in inscriptions on the reverse. Watercolor on paper, c. 1830, dia. 2 3/4 in., in mahogany frames with gilt brass liners. Condition: Very good. Note: James Morris Whiton was a prominent merchant and involved in writing and editing early journals in Boston. He died in 1847, but his wife Mary (Knowlton) Whiton continued to write extensively in journals about the family and its history. She died at the age of 97. Continuing in the family's literary tradition, their son, James Morris Whiton, Jr., wrote the first American doctoral dissertation in 1861 at Yale University and was an active theologian and writer in the late 19th century. Mrs. Knowlton's writing are in the family's collection, located at the Baker Library at Harvard University.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2007-08-13
