Lot 84: JOHN WOLLASTON (FL. CA. 1742 - 1775)

PORTRAIT OF CHARLES CARROLL OF DUDDINGTON AND MARY CAROLL (MRS. IGNATIUS DIGGERS): A PAIR OF PORTRAITS

51 by 41 1/2 in.

Painted circa 1760; in what appear to be the original giltwood frames.

Charles Carroll (b. Annapolis, Md., 1736; d. Baltimore, Md., 1832), Revolutionary leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Son of Charles Carroll and Elizabeth Brooke; educated locally by the Society of Jesus and in their colleges at St. Omer, Flanders, Rheims, and Paris. Returned to Maryland, 1765, after further study of law in London; began development of Carrollton Manor, Frederick Co., and lived life of landed proprietor. Entered political life as opponent of David Dulany, 1773; the controversy in the Maryland Gazette established Carroll as a popular leader. He served on Committees of Correspondence and Safety and accompanied Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Chase on their ill-fated journey to Canada, 1776, seeking union between Canada and the revolting colonies. Member of the Continental Congress, 1776-78; U.S. senator, Federalist from Maryland, 1789-92. Active in trade and land development, he was an original director of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

John Wollaston, Portrait painter. The younger Wollaston was painting in London as early as 1736 and is said to have studied there under a noted drapery painter. He came to America in 1749 and remained for almost 10 years, during which time he produced at least three hundred portraits in New York City (1749-52), Annapolis and elsewhere in Maryland (1753-54), Virginia (c. 1755-57), and Philadelphia (1758), and exerted a marked influence on his American contemporaries, including West, Pratt, Mare, and the elder Hesselius. Wollaston left the colonies in 1758. In January 1767 he was again in the American colonies, at Charleston, but he left for England in May of the same year.

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

The portrait hung in "Duddington," the home of Daniel Carroll
Carroll Fitzhugh of "Duddington"
Mrs. Charles H. Carter, Baltimore, great-great-grandniece of the subject
Her daughter, Mrs. Morgan E. Le Montagne, York Harbor, Maine (the portrait is in the Baltimore Museum, on loan)
When Mrs. La Montagne died; the portrait went to her daughter, Mrs. Richard Staples, Ruxton, Maryland (the portrait is on loan for three years to Hampton Mansion, Towson, Maryland)
Mrs. Richard Staples (Sara C. La Montagne) in Riderwood, Maryland
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
Kennedy Galleries, New York, 1986

LITERATURE

"Check List of Portraits in Oil by John Wollaston," in "Wollaston, An Early American Portrait Manufacturer," by Theodore Bolston and Harry Lorin Binsse, The Antiquarian (June 1931), page 50.
"Studies in American Painting," J. Hall Pleasants File, The Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland, No. 134.
Frick Art Reference Library, New York, photo mount No. 121-11c.