Thomas Waterman Wood (American, 1823-1903) oil on canvas still life with monkey, fowl and vegetables. Signed lower right, "TW Wood 186? after G Lance 1847". Handwritten dedication en verso "To his friend Henry C. Yeatman from T. W. Wood". 17-7/8" H x 20" W unframed. Also included is a framed engraving of the work which inspired Wood's rendition, "Red Cap", engraved by W. Taylor after a picture by G. Lance. Sight: 9" X 10-3/8; black frame: 13" X 17", (toning and minor foxing). Thomas Waterman Wood studied with Chester Harding in Boston before establishing a portrait studio in New York in 1853. In 1858, he departed for a yearlong sojourn in Paris, where he copied Old Masters and refined his technique before returning to America in 1859. He moved to Nashville shortly thereafter but, with Nashville under Union Occupation during the Civil War, relocated to Louisville in 1863. Influenced by images of African Americans in the South, he returned to New York in 1866 where he began an almost exclusive focus on genre scenes with African American themes. He was elected president of the National Academy of Design in 1869 and later served as president of the American Watercolor Society. (Source: Askart: The Artists' Bluebook). Wood stayed for a period of time at Hamilton Place in Columbia, Tennessee, home of CSA Colonel Henry Yeatman (1831-1910) and his wife, Mary Brown Polk Yeatman. During Wood's stay, he painted several Tennessee portraits, including one of Mrs. Yeatman. Hamilton Place was built in 1832 by Mary Brown Polk Yeatman's family (cousins to U.S. President James K. Polk and relations of Rachel Donelson Jackson). This painting was found in the home's attic in 1972.

Clean hole puncture upper quadrant. Heavy surface grime. Some exfoliation along lower edge.