Overmantel from the Baldwin House, Shrewsbury, MA
Artist
American
Date1700s
Mediumoil on panel
Dimensions66.7 x 132.7 cm (26 1/4 x 52 1/4 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Eveleth V. Hill and Mrs. John W. Lasell
Object number1980.32
Label TextThe Baldwin overmantel depicts a rural landscape in the foreground and a riverside village in the distance. Standing left of center is a shepherdess garbed in a white dress who tends a flock of eight sheep among a group of trees with gnarled trunks. In the near distance are two farms with white houses, beyond which is a village and a meetinghouse with a tall steeple. The village fades into the horizon with white and gray horizontal brushstrokes, evincing the artist’s fundamental understanding of atmospheric perspective. Technically this work is more sophisticated than most painted overmantels, although shortcomings in draftsmanship are evident where spatial recession is not convincingly rendered such as the sailing vessel nearest the foreground.ProvenanceOwner of Sumner House, 5 Church Road, Shrewsbury, MA says painting moved to his house after Baldwin House torn down in 1880. Says it depicts Lake Quinsigamond from the Shrewsbury side.On View
Not on view
