Maria Gansevoort Melvill (Mrs. Allan Melvill)

Ezra Ames executed the portrait of Maria Gansevoort Melvill in 1815 using oil paint applied to a wooden panel support. The work measures 76.2 cm in height and 59.7 cm in width, presenting a standard full-length or bust format typical of the era's portraiture. The medium and support combination reflects the practical materials favored by American painters of the early nineteenth century, allowing for durability and a smooth surface suitable for detailed rendering.

The painting remains in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as part of the Andrew W. Mellon collection.

Ezra Ames executed this oil on wood portrait in 1815. The subject, Maria Gansevoort Melvill, retained ownership until her death in 1872, after which the work likely passed to her daughter, Katherine G. Hoadley. Upon Katherine's death in 1905, the painting descended to her daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth Hoadley of Chicago.

The portrait entered the art market when C.W. Lyon of New York sold it to collector Thomas B. Clarke on January 26, 1917. Clarke subsequently consigned the work to a sale at the American Art Association on January 7, 1919, where it was purchased by E. T. Heckscher. By December 1921, the painting had returned to Clarke's possession.

Following his death, his estate sold the piece through M. Knoedler & Co. on January 29, 1936, to the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, which gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in 1947.

The portrait is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as part of the Andrew W. Mellon collection. It was acquired by the gallery in 1947 following its transfer from the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust in Pittsburgh. The work's provenance traces back through Thomas B. Clarke, who purchased it from the estate of the sitter's granddaughter, Charlotte Elizabeth Hoadley, and previously acquired it from the C.W. Lyon gallery in 1917.

The painting was sold at the American Art Association in New York in January 1919 before being re-acquired by Clarke later that decade. No specific exhibition history is detailed in the provided sources.

The portrait of Maria Gansevoort Melvill by Ezra Ames entered the National Gallery of Art through the collection of Thomas B. Clarke, who acquired it in 1917 and later bequeathed it to the museum in 1947. Its provenance reflects a continuous ownership within prominent American families, including the Gansevoort and Hoadley lineages, before its donation to the National Gallery of Art. The work remains part of the National Gallery of Art's permanent collection in Washington, D.C.

Ezra Ames painted this portrait of Maria Gansevoort Melvill, wife of Allan Melvill, around 1815. Executed in oil on a wooden panel, the work presents the sitter seated, her elbow resting on a surface and her hand lightly touching her cheek. The composition is framed by a dark, unadorned background that draws attention to her face and attire.