*** artists illustrating boys fashions : Joseph Goodhue Chandler










American Artists: Joseph Goodhue Chandler (1813-1884)

Chandler cut-away jacket suit

Figure 1.-- Here we see a cut-away jacket suit. The patritic them and drum suggest the Cuvil-War era (18560s). Virtually every other aspec of the suit such as the different pants color, wide sleeves, and the large lace collar. Black was a popular color in the firsr half of the 19th century (1830s-50s) centuries. We are not sure yet how to date the Glengary cap. We think the 1840s is the most likely with the late-1830s possible

Joseph Goodhue Chandler was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts (1813). He was a naive American portrait painter. He began as an intenerate artist in New England. As a boy, he probably apprecticed and trained as as a cabinetmaker. In his teens about 1827-32 he traveled to Albany, New York. There he studied painting with William Collins. He must have begun painting soon after, but his earliest portraits for some reason date from 1837 and are mostly of family members. Soon after his father passed away. He purchased his brother's share of the family farm and was able to supplement his income. He does not seem to have actively farmed but seems to have rented the land out. He married Lucretia Ann Waite (1820–1868) from Hubbardston, Massachusetts (1840). She was an already established painter. She appears to have 'finished-up' some of Joseph's portraits and collaborated on others. Art historians believe that it was after their marriage that Chandler seems to have begun actively working as an itinerant portraitist. That helps to date the portaits to the 1840s. While he signed most of his portraits, apparently only a few were dated. We notice that somev sources say thst Chsbndkler sigbned abd dated his portraits. Curiously while many of his portraits have been loaded on the internet, very few of then have the dates detailed. His work is of special interest to HBC because he painted so many children and while the images are not great art, the clothing is painted in great detail. Some of his portaits look more like the 1830s to us based on their clohing, but the art historians presumbly have reasons for dating then to the 1840s on. We note that there are some portraits dated to the late-1830s. He concentrated on western Massachusetts where he and hus wife grew up. They established a studio in Boston (1852). Lucretia Waite Chandler's work was exhibited at the Boston Atheneum. Unfortunately for Chandler and other naive artists at the time, the advent of photography afected the market for their work. We do not notice many of his portraits that look like they were painted much beyond the 1860s. The Chandlers returned to Hubbardston (1860). They spent the rest of their lives there. Chandler died (1884). Chandler left us a substantial record of how children dressed and some are dated. Otherv dates we can only estimate. One great feature of these painted portraits is that we have color which is lost in the nack and white 19th century photography. Unfortunately very few of the subjects are identified. Let us know if you have any thoughts as to the the dating.

Dresses: White Dress and Pantalettes (1840s)

|This portrait shows an unidentified boy wearing a white dress with with pantaloons/pantalettes and holding a grey cat. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was painted in the 1840s. The dress does not have a collar and is done with a moderately low neckline. Earlier in the century, dresses for children were basically scaled down versions of the dresses mother wore. By the 40s, dresses for children were condiderably shortened from earlier in the century, much shorter than the styles worn for adult women. But commonly with these shorter dresses, the children's legs were covered for modesty reasons. Notice how the pantalettes are coordinated with the dress. Thus we still do not know much about period hosiery. Notice even the ankles are covered. We have no idea about the boy's age. Naive artists are very good at clothing details, but do not capture ages very well. We suspect the boy was about 4 years old, but that is only a guess, the age could be anything from about 3-5 years old. We are not sure about 6-year olds, but think that was much less likely. .

Dresses: The Carpenter Boys (early-1860s)

We see twin brothers wearing identical white dresses and hair styles. Here we have their names -- Hugh and Wright Carpenter. We are not at all sure the ages of the boys. That is commonly something that naive artists do not depict well. They are great at clothing details, but not at ages of the sujects. The boys are wearing identical outfits, including hats. Theey are holding their coordinated hats, probably so their top curls which mother is clearly very proud of are displayed. The hats are, however, cleraly shown--straw hats with narrow brims. The hat bands and streamers match the white dresses. While the dresses were white, they are painted in grey tones. We think that was an attempt to capture the type of material, but we are not sure what the artist was trying to depict. We might guess that it was silk. The dresses have low neck-line. They are worn with white socks or stockings. The portrait is held by the Bennington Museum in Bennington Massachusettes. We note they date it to 'circa 1861'. By 'circa' that means that the date is not written on the back, but estimated by the Museum. That is imprtant to note. But note the high-top shoes. They are an indication that the boys could have been painted in the 1860s. The boys do not have ringlet curls, but they do have a matching top curl. That is a style we begin to see in the 1860s.

Dresses and Suit: The Slater Children (1840s?)

The Slater Children is another unsigned work that is commonly attributed to Chandler. We know nothing about the family, except that they almost certinly were from western Massachusetts. The clothing suggests the 1830s to 40s even though most art historians date Channdler's work to the 1840s and 50s. We note one art historian dating the painting to c1835. There are three children, probably about 1-8 yerars old. The two older children are boys, the gender of the baby is unclear. The baby wears a bonnet and white dress. There are both blue and pink ribbons here. There is more pink ribbon, but the color gender conventioins were not yet firmly set. The two boys wear coordinare brown outfits. We beklieve that the younger boy wears a low-neckline dress, decorated with frill edging and buttos, although we cannot see the skirt. His older brother wears a brown long pants suit with similat detaling, but it is not clear just what the top garment is with a large white collar. We are not sure about what he is sitting on or the item beneath it.

Blouse and Straw Hat (1850s)

Quite a few boys are depicted weaing blouses without suit jackerts. Here we see a boy wearing a blue-green blouse. The realtively small collar suggests the 1850s. This one is unusual with thr dhort sleeves Dresses might have short sleeves, they are unusual for boys. Notice the button drop down front for the pznts. The boy's hair done in ringlet curls. We are not sure about the boy's age. Naive atists acurtely deopicted the clothing, but the facial fatures are less reliable. Note the huge straw hat. That may help with the dating. As a result of the California Gold Rush (1848), many Americans crossed the Istmus of Panama where high quality straw hats (mostly from Ecuador). They became known as 'Panama hats'. Thus when we see hats like the one here, we believe the 1850s is possible. After the 1850s we mostly see boys wearing suits for studio photographic portraits.

Cut-away Jacket Suit (1830s-40s)

Here we see a cut-away jacket suit with a black jacket rust colored log pants (figure 1). The patriotic theme complete with flag suggest the Civil-War era (1860s). This portrait even has a drum. Boy often were excepted as drummers in Civil War units. Virtually every aspect of the sboys' outfit suggest a much earlier period. Note the different jacket and pants color, wide sleeves, and the large lace collar. Note the jacket has a short front, but long sides. We are not sure yet how to date the Glengary cap. We think the 1840s is the most likely with the late-1830s possible

Cut-away Jacket Suit (1850s)

Many of Chandler's portraits are signed, but many like this one are classified as 'attributed to'. As we are primarily interested in fashion history, we are including them here as they primarily deal with an era before photography was invented or before the advent if the CDV (1860s) when the number of images is relatively limited. Here we see a boy wearing a cut-away jacket suit, a style we see many of the boys Chandler paunted wearing. This was a popular style for younger boys thast was popular during more than half a century. This one, however, is fairly easy to date. Note the wide sleeves with bloused sleeve cuffs. That was popular style at mid-century. We note examples in the 1850s before the Civil War (1861-65). There are some unusual aspects to the boy's outfit. He wears shortened-length pants, very rare before the 1860s. Also notice that he is wearing socks, almost always white, rather than long stockings -- leaving part of his legs bare. That was virtully unheard of at the time. Except if ciourse for children going barefoot. He is accompanied by a poorly painted dog.

Cut-away Jacket Suit and Dress (1850s)

This Chandler portrit is one of his better ones. It shows two children, presumably siblings. in a rose garden. The children look to be about 10-14 years old, although naive artists while they tend to be very accurate as to the clothing, often do not do a very good job of capturing ages. The portsit os undted, but we supect it was taken in the 1850s. The girl wears a large, fashionable straw hat with a chin strap, a detail often omitted. She has pderfectly formed ringlet curls and wears a bright yellow dress. The dress has a high bodice and a low neck-line decorative frills. While it has a low-neckline, the skirt is very long, falling to the ankles. The ankles are covered by very long pantalettes, white socks and strap shoes. Dress length varies as to age, the precise age conventions varied somewht from family to family. The boy wears a cut-away jacket with long pants. There is also a vest. The jacket, vest, and pants are all different colors. He has a wide white pointed collar. We are not sdute if this is a blouse or a detachable collar worn with a black stock.







HBC






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Created: 8:07 PM 2/26/2007
Last updated: 1:40 PM 1/7/2023