Artist: The Freake-Gibbs Painter Place and period: Worked in Boston ca. 1670 Title of work: The Mason Children: David, Joanna, and Abigail Date of completion: 1670 Materials: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 39 1/2 x 42 3/4 inches Collection: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Accession number: 1979.7.3 Introduction This is the oldest painting in the collection of American art at the de Young Museum; it was painted in 1670, just fifty years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock on the coast of Massachusetts. Paintings from the early decades of New England settlement are very rare and only about thirty-five dating before 1700 survive. This painting depicts three children of Arthur Mason (a wealthy Boston baker) and his wife, Joanna Mason. Discussion This portrait can offer us a firsthand glimpse into the lives of the Mason children and children in general during the early colonial period.The children look far older than their years, but we know their exact ages which are inscribed next to their heads. David in particular seems tall and unusually proportioned for an eight-year old, but all of the children have a stiff, erect bearing that modern viewers do not associate with childhood. North American Puritans were deeply concerned about children because they considered young people as repositories of the most basic human instincts; they believed that children might be wild or immoral if not disciplined by strict religious and cultural rules. The Puritans assigned as many adult duties as possible to children, and filled the children's remaining time with religious and educational activities. This view of children was a slightly extreme version of the general perception of childhood in European culture during this same period. The idea of childhood as a time apart from adult problems and interests did not develop until the mid-eighteenth century. Until then, childhood was not considered a distinct time in life separate from adulthood, and for this reason, children began to dress as adults as soon as they were six years of age. The clothing the Mason children wear is based on typical clothing of the period but shows flourishes of extravagance associated with wealth in seventeenth century America. The abundance of laces and ribbons on the clothing of all three children would have been seen as a mark of privileged social status. Massachusetts law stated that only the very wealthy could display extravagant clothing; sleeve slashes, such as those seen in this painting, could only be worn by members of households whose income exceeded 200 pounds per year. Yet even the well-to-do, influenced by the predominantly Puritan and Quaker ethics of the time, often frowned upon overly fancy clothes as vain and impious. It was more common for wealthy people to wear simple clothes made of expensive fabric. One could argue that what the artist was depicting in this portrait was not the appearance of the Mason children at a specific moment in time, but the Mason children as their parents wanted them to be perceived: mature, well-provided-for, and important. The glimpse into the lives of the children portrayed in this picture belies the stereotype of Puritan childhood as dark and deprived. Not all of the residents of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were as prosperous as the Masons seem to have been, but the high regard for their children that the Masons demonstrated by commissioning this picture was probably not unusual. Looking Closely People often think of portraits primarily as records of a person's appearance. A less obvious purpose of portraiture is to communicate other kinds of information about the sitter. While the artist has carefully differentiated between the faces of the three children, he has lavished most of his attention on the details of the children's clothing and the objects they hold. Each of the girls wears a red coral necklace which was believed to ward off childhood diseases. Joanna holds a fan, the kind of accessory a fashionable and wealthy young woman might carry on formal occasions. David holds a silver-topped cane and gloves--both emblems of maturity and social status beyond his years. Abigail holds a rose, a symbol of innocence. Symbols such as these can be interpreted by historians today, but a true understanding of the purposes and meaning of portraiture during this period is still incomplete (owing in part to the small number of portraits that still exist). Inscribed next to David's head is the phrase "Anno Dom 1670," which states in Latin the year the painting was completed. Style The stiff frontal poses in which the children are depicted and the shallow space in which they stand seem curious to contemporary viewers but was an accepted style of the time. Artists in colonial America received little formal education in art and were considered to be in the same social category as craftsmen. Most art from this period appears flat and two-dimensional because the artists did not have sufficient training in linear perspective. It was also the fashion not to smile in portraits. Artist The name of the artist is unknown. The term "Freake-Gibbs" painter is used because this work is thought to be painted by the same artist who painted portraits of members of the Freake and Gibbs families during the same period. There are two possible explanations for the anonymity of the Freake-Gibbs painter. First, there would have been no need for an artist to advertise his name on a work of art in a small community. (In the 1600s, Boston was a small community.) Second, at this time painters were regarded as the same type of workers as carpenters, potters, and silversmiths, who also did not sign their works. Links to American History Curriculum
SLIDE 1
THE MASON CHILDREN: DAVID, JOANNA, AND ABIGAIL
Introduction | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Slide List | Museum Visit