Figure 1.-- This portait of the Joseph Moore family was painted by Erastus Salisbury Field about 1839. Everyone is dressed in back and white. Some of the ante-bellum portraits shows colorfully dressed children. We are not sure yet what the chrnological pattern of color was. The two boys wear black tunics with frilled collars and brown pants. Theur older brother wears a more grownup suit. Note the pointed collar. Their little sister/cousin wears a white dress with puffed sleeves. and long pantalettes. Field's handling of perspective mars the image, especially the failure foreshorten the oatterned caropet which is very dustracting.
This portait of the Joseph Moore family was painted by Erastus Salisbury Field about 1839. Field was a largely self-taught naive/fok artist which despite excelent redering, shows markedly in this image. Field had worked for more than a decade as a successful intenerit artist in western Massachusetts and the Connecticut River Valley (late-1820s-30s).He returned to Ware, Massachusetts, to help manage the family farm. His father's health was declining. Across the street lived Joseph Moore and his family. Moore persued a fascinatgiung career co=mbibation. He was a itinerate dentist in the summer when it was possibke to easilt travel. At the time the raileoads were still only beginning to devrelop. But then transfiormed intgo a hatter during the the winter months. The resulting Moore family portrait was immense. This was not one of his one day jobs. Field painted Moore and his wife, Almira Gallond Moore, early life-size. They are seated in highly decorated Hitchcock chairs and surrounded by four children who look to be about 3-14 years old. Their two sons surround their father at the right. And their recently orphaned niece and nephew at left. As was commonly for the naive aertists, and Field was one of the best, meticulously depicted many clothing details such as Mrs. Moore's ornate lace collar. Everyone is dressed in back and white. Some of the ante-bellum portraits shows colorfully dressed children. We are not sure yet what the chronological pattern of color was. The two boys wear black tunics with frilled collsars sand brown pants. Notice the buttons. They were often used as decorative elements on boy's dresses and tunics. We do not see this on girl's dresses. Their older brother wears a more grownup suit. Note the pointed collar. Their little sister/cousin wears a white dress with puffed sleeves and long pantalettes. Field's handling of perspective mars the image, especially the failure foreshorten the patterned caropet which is very dustracting. And he dies not attempt a relection in the mirror he faces.
