Portrait of Mrs. Roger Minott Sherman (Elizabeth Gould Sherman)
PAINTING
1840 (Date manufactured/created)
Artwork
Measurement Notes: 91.4 cm x 73.7 cm
Portrait of Elizabeth Gould Sherman, wife of Roger Minott Sherman of Fairfield.
It was quite common for couples to commission double portraits, as Roger and Elizabeth Sherman did in 1840, to commemorate their relationship. Elizabeth Gould Sherman married Roger Minot Sherman in 1796. Wearing an expensive black dress and white bonnet trimmed with lace, Elizabeth sits with one hand grasping the chair’s arm. The richness of her clothing and the style of the armchair in which she sits, along with her steady gaze, reflect her status and dignity as the wife of a prominent and prosperous lawyer.
Elizabeth Gould (1774-1848) lived in Fairfield, from 1807 until her death, in a house which is still standing on the Old Post Road. Her two sons died at a young age; perhaps the mourning pin pictured at her collar was worn in their memory.
-Hillside and Seaside: Four Centuries of Fairfield Life
It was quite common for couples to commission double portraits, as Roger and Elizabeth Sherman did in 1840, to commemorate their relationship. Elizabeth Gould Sherman married Roger Minot Sherman in 1796. Wearing an expensive black dress and white bonnet trimmed with lace, Elizabeth sits with one hand grasping the chair’s arm. The richness of her clothing and the style of the armchair in which she sits, along with her steady gaze, reflect her status and dignity as the wife of a prominent and prosperous lawyer.
Elizabeth Gould (1774-1848) lived in Fairfield, from 1807 until her death, in a house which is still standing on the Old Post Road. Her two sons died at a young age; perhaps the mourning pin pictured at her collar was worn in their memory.
-Hillside and Seaside: Four Centuries of Fairfield Life
Gift of First Church Congregational, Fairfield.
1976.81