Artwork
Mrs. Jacob Motte (Rebecca Brewton)
Mrs. Jacob Motte (Rebecca Brewton) is a watercolor painting by the Rococo painting artist Jeremiah Theus. It dates from 1758 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
When Rebecca Brewton married Jacob Motte in 1758, the Swiss-born Charleston painter Jeremiah Theus captured her in watercolor on ivory, a miniature barely larger than a thumbnail. The portrait was long misidentified as Motte's first wife before scholars recognized the twenty-one-year-old sitter as Brewton, daughter of a prominent Charleston goldsmith and later a noted Revolutionary-era patriot.
Subject & Meaning
The miniature portrays Rebecca Brewton Motte, the colonial American woman identified as the painting's main subject.
The miniature portrays Rebecca Brewton Motte, the colonial American woman identified as the painting's main subject. Rendered in watercolor on ivory, the portrait depicts her adorned with a bow, lace, and pearls, and holding a miniature, an arrangement of attributes consistent with mid-eighteenth-century genteel female portraiture. The inclusion of a smaller portrait within her own image functions as a sentimental device, signaling personal attachment and commemorative intent, while the lace, bow, and pearls signal refinement, wealth, and social standing.
Together these elements present Motte as an elegant sitter whose status and personal associations are conveyed through the conventions of the portrait miniature format.
Technique & Style
This miniature portrait is executed in watercolor on ivory, a refined technique characteristic of mid-eighteenth-century portrait miniatures. The compact support measures approximately 3.5 x 3.2 inches, an intimate scale suited to personal keepsakes. Theus's handling of the watercolor medium on the smooth ivory surface allowed for delicate, translucent layering, lending softness to the sitter's features.
Stylistically, the work belongs to the portrait genre and incorporates detailed rendering of costume elements such as lace and a bow, along with accents of pearl, reflecting the polite visual vocabulary of colonial American portraiture.
History & Provenance
Mrs. Jacob Motte (Rebecca Brewton) was created by Jeremiah Theus in 1758, executed in watercolor on ivory. The portrait depicts Rebecca Brewton Motte and is classified within the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing. No additional provenance details, ownership chain, or commission history are documented in the available sources.
Overview
This miniature portrait, created around 1758 by Jeremiah Theus, depicts Rebecca Brewton, a notable figure in colonial South Carolina society. Theus, a Swiss-born artist, was a leading portraitist in Charleston at the time. Rendered in watercolor on ivory, the small-scale work captures Brewton at the time of her marriage to Jacob Motte.
Now part of The American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the portrait offers insight into the visual culture of the era.
Legacy
Beyond its artistic merit, this portrait preserves the image of a woman who later gained recognition as a patriot during the American Revolution. Rebecca Brewton Motte actively supported the Continental forces and experienced the British occupation of Charleston firsthand. Her contributions to the cause and her resilience during a tumultuous period cemented her place in South Carolina's history, before her death in 1815 at Fairfield Plantation.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jeremiah Theus (né Theüs; April 5, 1716 – May 17, 1774) was a Swiss-born American painter, primarily of portraits.
