A mosaic plaque of a mother and child Italy, circa 1896-1890

enameled glass

Sotheby’s New York, September, 13, 1991, lot 165

According to a previous owner, the woman depicted in this mosaic is the opera singer, Amelia Rachel ‘May’ Peterson Thompson (1880-1952). Miss Peterson trained at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, then moved to Europe where she gave a command performance for Kaiser Wilhelm II; later in Paris she starred as a Prima Donna Soprano at the Opera Comique. In 1918, she joined the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York, performing with Enrico Caruso and John McCormack; her roles included Michaela in Carmen and Mimi in La Boheme. In 1924, she married Ernest Thompson, Mayor of Amarillo Texas. As Mrs. Thompson was childless, this early portrait may be with one of her eight siblings.

Sotheby's is grateful to Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel for her extensive research on this mosaic plaque.