Object Type: Painting

Medium and Support: Oil on canvas

Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Dunn in memory of Ruth Hanford Munn and James Buell Munn

Accession Number: 1978.190

Location: Currently on view

Unknown, 19th century

Allen Tobias Lacey (1802 - 1872)
ca. 1840
Oil on canvas

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Dunn
in memory of Ruth Hanford Munn
and James Buell Munn, 78.190

Allen Tobias Lacey was a prosperous farmer and businessman who lived in nearby Scottsville in the 1830s. He was active in Whig politics and the anti-Masonic movement, where he may have met M.W. Hopkins, the social activist and folk artist who painted the portraits of his wife, Ann Lacey and two children, Pierrepont and Eliza, on view nearby.

However, Mr. Lacey’s portrait is believed to be painted by another artist at a later date. Can you observe at least two differences between Mr. Lacey’s portrait and those of his family?

This is the first time that Mr. Lacey’s portrait has been exhibited with those of his wife and children, thanks to a conservation grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

{Excerpted from gallery label text, Oct. 2011, Colleen Piccone, Curatorial}


The Lacey family, whose portraits are on view nearby, lived in this home at 9 Scottsville-Chili Road in Scottsville, New York in the 1830s, where it is believed their portraits were painted and first hung. Two children in this 1890s photograph were relatives of the Lacey family. The girl on the far left was Ruth Hanford (Munn), in whose memory the portraits were given to the Memorial Art Gallery.

The paintings were passed down through the generations in this family home until 1932, when they were presented on the occasion of a marriage and moved to a new home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1978, the generous owners donated the group of family heirlooms to the Memorial Art Gallery, to be enjoyed by its many visitors.

{Excerpted from gallery text panel, Oct. 2011, Colleen Piccone, Curatorial}