Dummy Board Portrait of a Woman

Details

Descriptive Terms

dummy board figures
oil paint (paint)
larch (wood)
Painting

Label

"Cherished Possessions": Trompe l'oeil figures like this one (trompe l'oeil means to deceive the eye) were popular whimsies among the well-to-do in Holland and England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This is one of a few surviving American "dummy boards," so called because the figures remain mute. This dummy board of a servant carrying a tray of steaming cups of chocolate belonged to Boston, Massachusetts, widow Elizabeth Wendell Smith, who likely brought it with her when she moved to Maine in 1766 after her second marriage. Family tradition holds that the board depicts Elizabeth Smith's maid, Phyllis, a common name for servants, especially slaves.
January 2010-Winter Antiques Show: Trompe l'oeil figures like this one, known as "dummy boards," were popular whimsies among the well-to-do in Holland and England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This rare American example of a servant carrying a tray of steaming cups of chocolate belonged to Elizabeth Wendell Smith of Boston. Family tradition holds that the board depicts Smith's maid Phyllis.

Maker

Unknown

Dimensions

62 1/4 x 27 1/2 x 2 (HxWxD) (inches)

Credit Line

Bequest of Elizabeth Beasom Stephan

Accession Number

1976.173