A Portsmouth Parrott Tale
Topic of upcoming lecture by Deborah M. Child

Piscataqua Decorative Arts Society Lecture Series

On June 24, 2002, a pair of portraits attributed to Samuel F.B. Morse were sold at a Butterfields Auction, San Francisco, California. The reverse lining of the male sitter reads in block lettering: "Mr. Enoch Greenleaf [sic] Parrott." Above it an inscription on the stretcher states: "Painted by Morse inventor of the telegraph." The upper stretcher of the female sitter is inscribed: "Mrs. Susan Parker Parrott died April 21, 1852, aged 72 years." The lining below is inscribed: "Mrs. Susan Parker Parrott." Neither painting was signed.

The dimensions of the portraits were identical: 29 x 26 inches. They were executed in oil on the same type of pre-primed linen support, painted by the same hand, using the same technique and definitely contemporary to each other. It is apparent the portraits were intended to be pendant portraits: the sitters are painted in

the same scale, they face each other and share a similar plain background. The portraits are the property of Donald Neiman and are currently on view at Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York.

In the course of establishing authorship of these portraits, the following questions will be addressed:

  • Who were Captain and Mrs. Parrott? Was Parrott Avenue in Portsmouth named for them?
  • Could these portraits be by Morse?
  • Did any other Portsmouth residents have their portraits done by Morse? If so, where are they?
  • What happened to the Parrott family and where are the many treasures this family once owned?

Attend this lecture and find out the answers to these intriguing questions that shed unusual insight into the fabric of Portsmouth, NH society of 1817.

DEBORAH M. CHILD

Tea Table
Portsmouth, New Hampshire 1740-1775
Sherburne/Parker/Parrott Provenance
Collection of Historic New England, 1991.114
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