Artwork
Aunt Rhoda
Aunt Rhoda is a watercolor painting by the American Folk Art artist Charles Cromwell Ingham. It dates from 1844 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 2006.235.90
- Credit line
- Gift of Gloria Manney, 2006
About this work
Technique & Style
Aunt Rhoda is executed in watercolor on ivory, a miniature portrait technique that allows for finely detailed work on a smooth, luminous support.
Aunt Rhoda is executed in watercolor on ivory, a miniature portrait technique that allows for finely detailed work on a smooth, luminous support. The composition is small in scale, measuring approximately 10.5 by 8 (units), consistent with the intimate format typical of keepsake portraits intended for personal display. The sitter is depicted as a woman wearing a fichu, a draped neckwear element that the artist renders with delicate handling.
The ivory ground lends a soft, translucent quality to the watercolor washes, enabling subtle tonal gradations in the flesh and fabric. Stylistically, the work belongs to the American portrait tradition of the mid-nineteenth century, reflecting Ingham's refined draftsmanship and his attention to costume detail. The painting is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing.
History & Provenance
The watercolor portrait titled Aunt Rhoda was created by Charles Cromwell Ingham in 1844. Executed on ivory, the work measures 10.5 inches in height and 8 inches in width. It depicts a woman wearing a fichu.
The piece is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified within the American Wing. The creation date is recorded as January 1, 1844. The artwork serves as a portrait genre piece, capturing the likeness of the subject, identified as Aunt Rhoda, through Ingham's medium of watercolor on ivory.
The watercolor portrait Aunt Rhoda, painted by Charles Cromwell Ingham in 1844, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Classified within the museum's American Wing, the work on ivory depicts a woman wearing a fichu. While the piece is confirmed as part of the institution's holdings, the provided records do not specify a unique accession number or detail any past exhibition history for this specific object.
Context
Aunt Rhoda, a watercolor portrait on ivory attributed to Charles Cromwell Ingham and dated 1844, exemplifies mid‑nineteenth‑century American portrait conventions through its careful rendering of a sitter’s attire, notably the fichu, and its classification within The American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work’s inclusion in a major institutional collection underscores scholarly recognition of Ingham’s role in documenting elite New England subjects and highlights the portrait’s significance as a visual record of contemporary fashion and gender representation. Its status as a documented piece in both primary museum catalogues and standardized reference databases situates it within the broader narrative of American portraiture development.
Overview
Charles Cromwell Ingham, an Irish-American artist who later co-founded the New York National Academy of Design, created Aunt Rhoda in 1844. This small-scale watercolor on ivory portrait depicts a woman, likely the work's namesake, embodying the directness often associated with American folk art. The piece offers insight into mid-19th-century portraiture and the artistic practices of the period.
Subject & Meaning
The portrait features a woman, presumably Rhoda, whose direct gaze engages the viewer. Her dark hair is neatly styled, and her hands rest composedly in her lap. She wears a white lace fichu, a scarf-like collar popular in early 19th-century fashion, which provides a delicate detail and places the sitter within the sartorial trends of her era.
Artist & collection
Artist
Charles Cromwell Ingham (1796 or 1797 – 10 December 1863) was an Irish-American portrait painter and later a founder of the New York National Academy of Design.
