Lot 264: Attributed to Justus Dalee (Active 1826-1847), circa 1835

Profile Portrait of Mary Jane Carleton
watercolor and ink on paper
3 1/2 x 2 5/8 inches

Property from a Long Island Collection

The painters in the Da Lee family were Justus (1793-1878), his brother Richard (1809-1868), and Justus' son, Amon (1820-1879). Working in a surprisingly similar manner, Justus and Richard began painting in the mid 1830s and Amon, who was trained by both Justus and Richard and demonstrated an aptitude for painting, was painting by 1837. As itinerant painters, the three men traveled extensively; occasionally they painted together but more often in a pair with the third traveling alone. Surviving portraits indicate that between 1841 and 1843, the three men covered a wide territory between Ohio, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. By 1848, the Da Lee painters had turned to other professions, and eventually they settled in different areas of the Midwest.

Justus is considered the primary artist of the group, and of the surviving portraits, the vast majority of signed examples bear his signature, with the sitter's name occasionally inscribed lightly on the reverse in graphite. The portraits produced by Justus, Richard and Amon are virtually indistinguishable, all being rendered in watercolor, pencil and ink, on stiff board. Gum-arabic highlights were often used to bring out details in clothing. Adult sitters are rendered in half-length, with older children in three-quarter length and young children in full-length. Men are always presented in profile, as were women, although some early portraits of women show heads in profile and bodies presented in a frontal view.

For more information on Justus Da Lee and his family of portrait painters, see Suzanne and Michael Payne, "To Please the Eye: Justus Da Lee and His Family," Folk Art (Winter, 2004), pp. 46-57.

Mary Jane Carleton was born June 3, 1812. She married Enoch Carleton (b. May 10, 1809) and they lived in New Hampshire.

This lot is offered without reserve.