wilder
John Vanderlyn Born Kingston,
N.Y., October 15, 1775.
Died Kingston, N.Y., September 24, 1852.
Sampson Vryling Stoddard Wilder,
about 1808–121
Oil on canvas
36 3/8 x 28 7/8 in. (92.4 x 73.3 cm)
Gift of Lawrence Alan Haines in memory of his father, Wilder Haydn
Haines, 1981.331
Provenance
The sitter, Sampson V. S. Wilder (1780–1865); to his wife, Electa Barrell
Wilder (1797–1878); to her daughter Francina Eglée Wilder Haines
(1819–1886); to her son Edward Wilder Haines (1845–1911); to his son, Wilder
Haydn Haines (1893–1980); to his son Lawrence Alan Haines, who donated
the portrait to the Worcester Art Museum.
Samuel Lovett Waldo
Born Windham, Conn., April 6, 1783.
Died New York City, February 16, 1861.
Electa Barrell Wilder (Mrs. Sampson Wilder), about 18231
Oil on canvas
35 13/16 x 28 in. (91 x 71.1 cm)
Gift of Lawrence Alan Haines in memory of his father, Wilder Haydn
Haines, 1981.332
Provenance
The sitter, Electa Barrell Wilder (1797–1878) and her husband Sampson
V. S. Wilder (1780–1865). By descent in the family to her great-granddaughter
Rosalie V. Halsey, by 1917; her cousin’s widow Mrs. Edward Wilder Haines;
to her son Wilder Haydn Haines (1893–1980); to his son Lawrence Alan Haines,
who donated the portrait to the Worcester Art Museum.
Notes
1. This painting has also been published as Electa Barrell Wilder (Strickler
1981–82a, 41); Mrs. Sampson V. S. Wilder (Brooklyn Institute 1917, 117);
and Portrait of Electa Barrell (Barrell 1915, 150). It has been dated 1817
(Strickler 1981–82a, 41); about 1825 (Barrell 1915, 151); and about 1840
(Brooklyn Institute 1917, 117).
But by 1760, the Portsmouth tax collector counted him as a resident
and classified him as a "limner." 11 Blackburn’s stay in Portsmouth yields
another piece of the scant documentary evidence from his career—a manuscript
receipt for Mrs. Nathaniel Barrell (Sarah Sayward) (1761, Society for the
Preservation of New England Antiquities, Boston, on view at the Sayward
Mansion, York, New Hampshire). The receipt is signed by Blackburn and records
the following payment: "Portsmo. July 12, 1762 Receiv’d of Jono Sayword
Esq. by the hands of Joseph Barrell, Ten Guineas in-full his Daughters
Picture" 12 This document fixes Blackburn’s price for a three-quarter-length
portrait at ten guineas, compared to Copley’s fees in 1764 of eight guineas
sterling.13 Although Copley was taking over Blackburn’s place as the preeminent
portraitist in New England, Blackburn still commanded the higher fees.
Barrell 1915
Genealogy of the Barrell Family. Notes arranged by Joseph Barrell, New
Haven, Conn., 1915. Unpublished manuscript, Worcester Art Museum, curatorial
files.
Barrell 1995
Barrell, Joseph, et al. Historic Background of the Barrell Family.
. . ed. by Nan McMillin Barrell. Hamden, Conn.: Nan McMillin Barrell, 1995.