
Aaron Anderson
Specialist, Head of Sale
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US$15,000 - US$25,000
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Specialist, Head of Sale

Head of Department

Associate Specialist
Provenance
The Old Print Shop, Inc., New York, by 1959.
George Aaron Butler (1899-1987) and Anne (née Garrett) Butler (1897-1977), Houston, acquired from the above, November 17, 1959.
Transferred to the present owner from the above.
The present pair of portraits depicts Mary Amelia (née Coffin) Pease (1817-1891) and Edward Betts Pease (1815-1870). Mary was born on Nantucket, Massachusetts to Captain Alexander Coffin Jr. (1764-1836) and Mary Dayton (née Gelston) Coffin (b.1775) and is a descendant of Tristram Coffin (1609-1681), one of the proprietors who brought about the English settlement of the island in the mid-1600s when he, along with several other investors from Salisbury, Massachusetts, bought Nantucket Island from Governor Thomas Mayhew (1593-1682) on July 2, 1659. The Coffin family prospered for generations as prominent whalers, agents, merchants, and traders on the island.
Edward was born in Hudson, New York in 1815 to Beriah Pease (1766-1828) and Juliana (née Swansey) Pease (1781-1819). Edward moved to Springfield, Illinois by May 1839 while Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was still living in the city and before he was elected President of the United States in 1860. Edward and his brother William Worth Swasey Pease (1817-1859) established a hardware and cutlery store in Springfield called E.B. Pease & Bro.. The home that Edward built at 500 S 6th St. around 1855 still stands and is distinguished for its architecture that features a mansard roof and dormer windows framed with richly ornamented moldings and cornices in the manner of the French Imperial or French Second Empire style. While it is unknown when Mary and Edward first met, the two married on March 20, 1840. It is believed that the present pair of portraits was painted by Durand on the occasion of their marriage and very likely hung in their home while the couple lived in Springfield. Shortly after completing the present portraits, Durand traveled to Europe for the first and only time from April 1840 to June 1841 to further develop his artistic talents.