Portrait of Mrs. John (Mary Ann Bedford) Young
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1762-1765
Maker
James Claypoole Jr. c. 1743-1822)
Measurements
H: 29.93 in x W: 25 in
Materials
Oil on canvas
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp
Accession Number
1958.3216
Condition Notes
Good: Small areas of paint missing, crackled (to be restored) 2 10 1988 - OCR
Provenance
Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp
Comments
oil portrait of Mary Ann (also spelled Anne) Bedford (1744-1817), who married John Young (c. 1740-1812) of Philadelphia in 1762. By the early 1800s, the couple had moved to Baltimore, where they are buried.
Artist James Claypoole Jr. was the son of James Claypoole Sr. (1721-1784)
Artist James Peale (1749-1831) married Mary Claypoole (1753-1829), sister of James Jr.
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827)
For another portrait by Claypoole Jr. and further information about the artist, see “Miss Lydia Irons,” accession no. 1958.3302.
Artist James Claypoole immortalized his 21-year old subject in 1765 wearing an expensive gray silk damask dress with a beautifully laced fichu, wrapped in a bulky colonial blue cloak. She is adorned with a three-stranded pearl choker, with pearl strands woven into her hair and a miniature pink rose tucked into her bodice. Mary was the oldest of 12 children who had 10 children of her own – her first when she was 18, her last at 41 -- with her husband John Young (1740-1812). They lived in Philadelphia and later moved to just a few blocks from the bustling inner harbor in Baltimore.
