Artwork
Mrs. Joseph Reade
Mrs. Joseph Reade is an oil painting by the Baroque artist John Wollaston the Younger. It dates from 1750 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 48.129.2
- Credit line
- Purchase, Gift of Mrs. Russell Sage, by exchange, 1948
About this work
Anna French Reade sits for John Wollaston around 1750 in New York, dressed in silk and lace that signal her family's standing among the colonial merchant elite.
Anna French Reade sits for John Wollaston around 1750 in New York, dressed in silk and lace that signal her family's standing among the colonial merchant elite. The Anglo-American painter produced this oil on canvas as a pendant to a portrait of her husband, Joseph Reade, creating a matched pair of 30-by-25-inch canvases that entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing in 1948 through a gift of Mrs. Russell Sage.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts Anna Reade, the wife of Joseph Reade, presented as a fashionable woman of the mid-18th century. She is shown wearing a cap, fichu, lace-trimmed bodice, ribbon, and a pearl necklace, all typical elements of polite female portraiture in colonial America. These accessories likely signify her social standing and marital status, as such details were carefully chosen to convey refinement and domestic virtue.
However, the source materials provide no explicit iconographic or symbolic program beyond the straightforward representation of Mrs. Reade as a genteel sitter.
Technique & Style
The portrait is executed in oil on canvas, a standard medium for 18th-century portraiture. The support measures 76.2 x 63.5 cm. The artist's handling is evident in the detailed depiction of the sitter's accessories: a lace-trimmed cap, fichu, bow, pearl necklace, and ribbon, suggesting attention to textile textures and decorative elements. The formal composition follows conventional portrait formulas of the period, with a focus on the sitter's face and upper body.
The work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; no specific condition notes are provided in the sources.
History & Provenance
Mrs. Joseph Reade is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, specifically within its American Wing. The museum does not provide an inventory or accession number in the available sources, and no exhibition history is documented for this painting.
Overview
This oil on canvas depicts Anna French Reade, wife of a prominent New York merchant, painted by Anglo-American artist John Wollaston between 1749 and 1752. During his residency in Manhattan, Wollaston created this work as a companion to a portrait of her husband, Joseph Reade. The pair, reflecting the artist's characteristic style, entered The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing in 1948, acquired through a gift from Mrs. Russell Sage.
Context
Active in the British colonies during the mid-18th century, John Wollaston was among the few formally trained portraitists available to the burgeoning American gentry. His presence in New York between 1749 and 1752 allowed him to secure commissions from leading families, including the Philipse, Livingston, and Colden households. Wollaston's work helped define the aesthetic for high-society portraiture in the era preceding the American Revolution.
Artist & collection
Artist
John Wollaston (fl. 1742 – 1775) was an English painter who specialised in portrait painting and was active mostly in British North America. He was one of a handful of painters to introduce English Rococo styles of…
