Between 1832 and 1837, itinerant artist Joseph H. Davis brought members of Maine and New Hampshire’s middle class to life in more than 150 engaging watercolor portraits. These decorous men, women, and children are
rendered individually, in pairs, or in family groups, with the faces always in profile and bodies slightly turned. When depicted singly, they face the viewer’s right; when paired, they face each other. The hands
and feet of all the sitters are unusually small. Customized decorative details – a newspaper, Bible, painting, clock, vase of flowers, pet dog or cat –reveal something of the subject’s interests. Grain-painted
furniture and exceptionally vivid floor coverings characteristic of the period enhance the settings. Decorative calligraphic inscriptions below the portraits identify the sitters by name and age.
In this portrait, Betsey Dowst, age sixty-nine on August 27, 1837, sits in her black-painted rocking chair with gold stenciling and wears a white ruffled cap held to her head by black straps tied in a bow under her chin.
A faint pencil outline is discernible, especially in the facial features. A beautifully bound and ruche-edged shawl covers the shoulders of her loosely pleated, leg-of-mutton-sleeved black silk dress. The handwork on
her lap and the eyeglasses perched on her head suggest that she stopped her knitting or crocheting for a few moments to pose for the artist. She may have been related to either Henry Dowst or Isaac Dowst of New Hampshire’s
Merrimack County, both of whose names appear in the 1840 United States census.
There exists another, nearly identical, picture of Betsey Dowst – inscribed with the same personal data, including the same date. While the pose is quite similar, there are several variations in the details of the chair
and floor covering, and the placement of the ball of yarn, eyeglasses, and cat in each picture is different.
Lee Kogan, "Betsey Dowst," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 328.
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