Simon Jr. and Mary Willard miniatures by G. Harvey

from the collection of Willard House and Clock Museum

Willard House and Clock Museum collection includes fine examples of 19th c. miniature art. Two portraits of Simon Jr. and Mary Willard painted by English miniature artist George Harvey represent a style and remarkable artistry of the period.

George Harvey

Inscribed on backing paper: 1830 G. Harvey aged 30 / taken by himself

George Harvey was born in London, England in 1800 and became famous in 1830s as a landscape artist, specializing on unique and picturesque views of America. His medium of choice was watercolor. His style was heavily influenced by training as a miniaturist, especially in the use of a distinctive stippling technique. Harvey came to America a year after exhibiting at Royal Academy of Arts in London at the early age of 19, and started working in the western rural areas as well as Canada. He eventually moved to New York around 1825, and Boston in 1828, where he produced exceptionally detailed city views and beautiful floral paintings.  His success was noted by membership in the National Academy of Design (NY) at 28, which was highly unusual and admired.

Similar to French pointillism later, the stippling technique of the 19th c. was characterized by the extremely skillful application of tiny dots of color close to each other to create a vibrant effect when viewed from a distance. It allowed Harvey to imitate natural light and coloration in many scenic watercolors, which became known as "The atmospheric series."

Before the earliest daguerreotypes were invented in 1839, miniature portraits were treasured not only for their sentimental value but also as the only means for the family members to have a likeness of the loved one on hand. By the 1830s, miniatures were quite expensive, but still much cheaper than full-length portraits and, without a doubt, more comfortable to travel with. Newspapers were filled with miniaturists' advertisements. This branch of painting historically welcomed women artists. Some of them, like Sarah Goodridge or Anne Hall, became quite accomplished and famous, earning a living exclusively with their art. George Harvey, however, was always interested in developing his painting style further, giving up miniatures painting after the 1830s. We hypothesize that portraits of Simon Jr. and Mary Willard from the Willard House and Clock Museum collection were painted at the height of George Harvey's career as a miniaturist.

Simon Willard Jr.

Simon Willard Jr. was born in 1795 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He learned from his father and then was an apprentice to John Pond in New Hampshire. In 1826-27 he worked under Dominick Eggert in New York. At 20, after graduating from West Point Military Academy, he was commissioned to the Pittsburgh Arsenal in Pennsylvania. He resigned in 1816 and returned to Roxbury to start a crockery business, which was not a success. In 1821 he married Eliza Adams and worked with his father as a clockmaker. By 1827, Simon Jr. owned a shop on No. 9 Congress Street in Boston making clocks and chronometers. In 1825-26 he studied and worked in New York, where in theory, he might have been introduced to George Harvey, who stayed there at that time. However, the most probable window for Willard's miniatures to be created seems to be 1828-1829, when the artist comes to Boston, but before 1830, when he leaves for London to continue his education. Taking the assumption of the portraits being painted in these years would make our sitters around 35 years old.

Mary Willard

Mary (1793-1855) was Simon Jr.'s sister. She was two years older than him, unmarried at the time when this miniature was painted, and lived with her brother’s family, helping around the house. 

Mary's portrait depicts an ideal Victorian woman: she has a beautiful face, glowing skin, shining brown hair, and a soft smile. She is dressed in light colors appropriate for an unmarried woman: blue silk dress with white cashmere shawl, very expensive and fashionable in London (a trend set by the queen Victoria herself), white delicate lace collar with a large black brooch, possibly real onyx, not jet or vulcanite, which became extremely popular in the following decade, hinting on a period of mourning in the lady's life. 

At the age of 37, she got married to Caleb Hobart of Milton, had no children of her own, and continued to take care of her parents.

Both miniatures are oval-shaped, about three inches, but are in different cases. While Simon's case is very similar to common American cases of the period, with a round opening for displaying braided lock of hair (a standard feature of the memorabilia for that time), Mary's portrait is different. It is attached to the red leather case and does not have a bail, so it can not be worn as a pendant. Unfortunately, the top cover of the case is missing. We do not know if the portrait contains any locks inside, similar to Simon Jr's.

It was common for the ladies to do exquisite hair-work in-house or send the locks to specialty shops to weave into jewelry and be fitted for miniatures and lockets. Although hair art was primarily typical for mourning pieces, it was widely used for sentimental reasons and could represent love, devotion, or friendship. Since hair in Simon Jr's portrait is not feathered (arranged in a particular delicate shape using glue), just braided, it was probably done by a family member.

Simon Jr. portrait's case reminds of Harvey's other miniatures from this time, so the artist probably used the same supplier. The metal oval mounting is further enclosed into a hinged wooden leather-bounded case lined with burgundy silk with a tiny lock on a side. 

Miniatures were usually charged by size and medium, watercolor on ivory being the most expensive, but all portraits by George Harvey are about the same size. He was also known to put a clear signature onto the right outline of his work in rather large capital letters: exactly what we see in both Willard portraits from our collection. Compare below.

Here you can see woven hair presumably belonged to Simon Willard Jr., and while the portrait shows us a handsome dark-haired gentleman with striking blue eyes, the lock in the miniature case is clearly a lighter, auburn color. The difference might be due to the fashion stereotypes of the period as well as natural discoloration of the organic keratin in the human hair over time.

In the miniature Simon Jr. is dressed in the latest fashion, wearing a stiff white collar and an elegant black coat of a simpler cut, introduced by the original Victorian dandy Beau Brummell in London not long time ago. The portrait seems to be very life-like, depicting distinctive features of the sitter with such a detail that we can see his mimic wrinkles and eyelashes. Simon appears to be relaxed and comfortable around the artist.

These portraits are a treasured part of the museum exhibit because of their excellent artistic value and the strong connection with the Willard family, adding a significant historical value to the collection. 

Our staff continues to research the portraits and look forward to learning more about their history and provenance.

Both portraits are on display at the Willard room in the museum; please plan to visit Willard House and Clock museum when we are open for public again!