Smithsonian American Art Museum
Portrait of a Lady
Thomas S. Officer, born Carlisle, PA 1810-died San Francisco, CA 1859 · ca. 1850
Thomas Officer painted this miniature while he was living in Mexico between 1848 and 1850. The lady wears a brooch and bracelet possibly of black onyx, and a necklace and earrings of pearls. These accessories accentuate the contrast between her fair skin and dark eyes and hair. The elegant pose has been undercut by the formal, almost awkward rendering of the sitter’s left hand.
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