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Portfolios%3D%22574%22%20and%20Sort_Artist%3D%22Manchester,%20M.%20M.%22
Painting
Judge and Mrs. Arthur Yates
Conversation Piece
M. M. Manchester, active ca. 1840
Manchester, M. M.
United States
active ca. 1840
Male
36 x 58 3/4 in. (91.4 x 149.2 cm)
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approximate installation dimensions
frame
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without frame
Oil
Oil
ca. 1840
1835
1845
1800-1900, 19th century, folk art, men, paintings, portraits, women
Painting
This grand portrait might have been a focal point in Judge and Mrs. Yates’s parlor. Judge Yates built the first steam saw mill in Tioga County, and was justice of the peace and postmaster.
Whether the furnishings, book, and clothing accurately depict the Yates’s possessions is impossible to say. They are meant to convince us of the pair’s position within the local gentry. Yards of satiny fabric held in place by a curtain holdback speak of luxury. Mrs. Yates’s jewelry, lace collar, cuffs and trimmed handkerchief, were the accoutrements of a lady of means. Judge Yates holds a book by English theologian William Paley entitled Natural Theology, a text regularly consulted by well-read gentlemen of the 19th century. While we know very little about Mr. Manchester, the artist, we can safely say that he was familiar with the grand tradition of portraiture that frequently placed subjects within ennobling, but not always authentic, settings.
[Gallery label text, 2002]
verso, Visible before relining
1941.30
item
Memorial Art Gallery
9/8/1999
41.30TR1
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41.30DI1
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Memorial Art Gallery
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7/14/2000
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