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: 1978.187

Location: Currently on view

In this painting, Ann Lacey (the mother of Pierrepont and Eliza (78.188 and 78.189)) holds a book in her hand. Her traditional pose suggests that she was a cultured and literate individual.

The portraits of the Lacey family were passed down through the generations in the family home in Scottsville, New York, 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 label text, 2006]

M. W. Hopkins
American, 1789 - 1844

Ann Gennett Pixley Lacey (1809 - 1841)
ca. 1835 - 1836
Oil on canvas

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Dunn
in memory of Ruth Hanford Munn
and James Buell Munn, 78.187

Ann Gennett was born in Kirkland, New York, and her family later moved to nearby Chili. Around 1830, she married Allen Tobias Lacey, son of a neighboring farmer and political associate of her father. She was the mother of Pierrepont and Eliza, whose portraits hang nearby.

In the painting, she is shown holding a small book, a popular motif that suggests literacy and a certain level of affluence.

Ann Lacey died of cancer at the age of 32 and she is buried in the Fellows Cemetery in Chili. Shortly thereafter, Allen Lacey remarried, and in 1847, the family moved west to farm in Marshall, Michigan.

{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}