Joseph H. (J. H. Davis)

Inscribed recto, ink: Betsy C. Sanborn; verso of backing board, ink: Jany 3rd 1835 Aged 21-/ when Painted.

Descended in family to Mildred Seymour MacCoy (sitter's great-grandchild), Norwell, Massachusetts
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, January 30-February 1, 1986, lot 426

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 57, fig. 28

Very good condition. Large Whatmans watermark at left.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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In drawing Betsy C. Sanborn's portrait, Joseph H. Davis utilized a format he often enlisted to execute likenesses of women. Sanborn stands on a decorative orange and yellow carpet, her body turned in three-quarter view, her face in profile; her hands and feet are diminutive. She holds a small bouquet of flowers in one hand, possibly tulips and roses, while clasping an orange-, blue-, green-, and gold-decorated purse in the other, props commonly seen in this artist's work. Reminiscent of Davis's other portraits, this likeness includes a potted plant with orange berries and two birds, one flying above and the other perched on a twig, animating an otherwise static composition.

Drawn in black with glazed highlights, Betsy's dress, with its balloon sleeves and Empire waist accentuated with a large brass buckle, is stylistically consistent with women's clothing from the mid-1830s. In addition to her beautiful tortoise shell hair comb and gold drop earrings, Betsy wears a necklace, wrapped three times around her neck, that holds a timepiece, or possibly a locket, that is tucked into her waistband.¹ Among the most intriguing and yet inconsistent features of this portrait is what appears to be a partial inscription in the lower margin. Placed off-center, it includes only the sitter's name, with complementary flourishes below, but lacks other information that Davis loved to include in his watercolor likenesses, such as Sanborn's date of birth or when the artist recorded her appearance.²

According to a published history of the Sanborn family in America, Betsy Sanborn Chamberlain was born on January 3,1814, the daughter of Ezekiel (1774-1830), a farmer, and Abigail Chamberlain Sanborn (1776- 1854) of Brookfield, New Hampshire.³ In 1836 she married William B. Chamberlain (c.1813-1842) (cat. no. 27).⁴ The 1840 federal census for the town of Brookfield lists Chamberlain as the head of his household, with one woman between the ages of twenty and thirty living at home, probably Betsy, and one daughter under the age of five. The portrait subject succeeded her husband in death by two years; she died on August 24, 1844, at the age of only thirty. -C.E.M.

¹ Lynne Zacek Bassett, "Woven Bead Chains of the 1830s," The Magazine Antiques 148, no. 6 (December 1995): 797-807.
² This information was written on a separate piece of paper and attached to the backing board of this painting. It is almost as if the artist were unable to transfer this data to the bottom of the composition, for an undetermined reason.
³ Sanborn, Genealogy of the Family, p. 338, entry 764. My thanks to Arthur B. Kern for this citation; see letter to the author, July 2, 2000 (AFAM files).
⁴ Two different portraits of a William B. Chamberlin were sold at auction in 1986 with this portrait of Sanborn. One clearly descended with her likeness; perhaps the second did as well.