Watercolor Painting Depicting the Bennet Family Record

Watercolor Painting Depicting the Bennet Family Record

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Description
The practice of recording family likenesses predates the 1839 invention of photography by thousands of years, as seen in sculptures and paintings. Illuminated family records commemorated births, deaths, and marriages. This watercolor family record from Poland, Maine, recorded the marriage of Miss Betty Haskel and Mr. Jonathan Bennet, as well as the birth dates of their nine children.
Pregnancy and raising children filled the daily lives of many women in the eighteenth century. Marriages, births, and deaths were primarily community affairs prior to the mid-19th century. Family occasions were marked by a gathered congregation, a village, or a household that routinely included servants, apprentices, lodgers, and visitors.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
painting
Other Terms
Painting; Pictures; Watercolor
Date made
April 12, 1804
1804-04-12
described
Bennet, Jonathan
Haskel, Betty
artist
Barns, Ruben
Place Made
United States: Maine, Poland
Physical Description
watercolor (overall production method/technique)
Measurements
image: 13 3/4 in x 10 3/4 in; 34.925 cm x 27.305 cm
overall-in frame: 3/4 in x 20 1/8 in x 22 1/2 in; 1.905 cm x 51.1175 cm x 57.15 cm
overall, frame hook: 3/4 in x 15 3/8 in x 1 7/8 in; 1.905 cm x 39.0525 cm x 4.7625 cm
ID Number
DL.388164
catalog number
388164
accession number
182022
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Arthur M. Greenwood
subject
Marriage
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
Family & Social Life
Domestic Furnishings
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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