Lot 13 email save

Fine Lebanon, Ohio Portrait by Marcus Mote, oil on

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Fine Lebanon, Ohio Portrait by Marcus Mote,
oil on canvas, signed on the reverse, Photograph by Vanneman 1859 Painted M. Mote. A half-length portrait of an attractive woman wearing a black dress trimmed in lace, a red wrap, and gold jewelry. In an old black and gold-painted frame; 27" x 21.75" (w/o frame), 32" x 26.75" (w/frame).

Marcus Mote (1817-1898), born in Miami County, Ohio the son of a Quaker cabinetmaker, showed an interest in art at a very early age, getting his first set of watercolors at age 12. He later married Rhoda Steddon and the couple settled in Lebanon around 1837. His early career was largely an itinerant one, and he supplemented his income with ornamental painting. By 1850, he had 4 children, and it was then that he opened a studio in Lebanon, where he painted portraits, miniatures, landscapes, and produced daguerreotypes. He also taught painting and drawing. About 1853, he painted a panoramic image based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and it was well-received. He continued to paint portraits and landscapes in Lebanon until about 1859-60, when he decided to move his family to Richmond, Indiana. By 1865, he was advertising in the Richmond Weekly Telegram. This portrait is based on a photograph, taken by either H.B. Vanneman or his daughter, Helen Vanneman, who both worked as photographers in Lebanon in the 1850s. See Haverstock et al, Artists in Ohio, 1787-1900 and Hageman, Ohio Pioneer Artists, A Pictorial Review.
Reframed under glass causing moisture damage, not removed from frame for examination; currently only fair, but worthy of restoration.

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