Figure 1.--John S. Copley painted the four Gore Children about 1755. We know nothing about the family at this time. They clearly was a very affluent family. Note the rich fabrics and elegant clothing. The painting is now at the Winterthur Museum. The painting shows Sammy Gore (on the right)who has not yet been breeched. His hair is combed back from his forehead and he has fashionable side curls worn with a queue. This was how some men wore their hair. His older brother, however, has his hair done differently.

Portait painters from city studios and more commonly itinerate artyists have left us several wonderful images of Amerucan families in the 18th century. Most of these artists had no real artistic training. While they were not great mastyers, many depicted hair styles and dashion in great detail. We have only a few images of early American families in the 18th century, but have not yet linked them here. Most are located in the American art section. Readers should remember that for the most part the painted portraits record the Colonial elite who largely following European styles. We know less about back woods styles.

Gore Family (about 1755)

John S. Copley painted the four Gore Children about 1755. We know nothing about the family at this time. They clearly was a very affluent family. Note the rich fabrics and elegant clothing. The painting is now at the Winterthur Museum. The painting shows Sammy Gore (on the right)who has not yet been breeched. His hair is combed back from his forehead and he has fashionable side curls worn with a queue. This was how some men wore their hair. His older brother, however, has his hair done differently. Note the older broter's long coat and long vest. Their father woulkd have worn a very similar outfit. Also notice the sundued colors. The girls and Sammy have bright-colored clothing. Also note Sammy's dress. There does not seem to be any boy's clothing in between the older brother's adult outfit and Sammy's dress.

Henry Pelham (1760s)

Copley painted his younger half-brother, Henry Pelham, twice. One is an informal sketch shows Henry at about age ? reading. He then painted Hencry again in a more formal work at about age 15 years with a flying squirrel. This is a very well known Copley work painted in 1765. Both of these works are at Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Copley painted the formal portrait of Henry for display in London to show off his skills. There are several aspects of the picture included to showcase his abilities, such as the satin cloth. This is a particularly difficult fabric to illustrate because of the sheen. here is , however, much more in the portrait such as the minute links of chain. And there is a partially full glas if water, another difficult item to illustrate. Now art historians believe that he would have painted his brother with hair styles and clothing that would have appealed to the London public. Thus we are not entirelky sure if we arevlooking at how American boys drssed or fashionable English boys. Henry has his hair combed straight back from his the forehead. At the sides it covers his ears. Its seems rather matural and not carefully styled like that of some boys.

Stewart Children (1770s)

Charles Wilson Peale traveled widely in the middle colonies, developing a reputation as a highly skilled portratist. He painted portraits of numerous colonial officials and important merchants. He did his first portrait of Gerorge Washington (1772). The portrait of the "Stewart Children" may have been made during this period, although I do not have details at this time.

Daniel Verplanck (1771)

Copley pained Daniel Verplanck who looks to be about ??? years old. Daniel was from New York. The painting is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Daniel has short hair at the front and sides, but long at the back.

West Family (1772)

West painted this Family scene about 1772. Notice his son' long hair and open lace collar.

Leonard Vassall (1772)

Copley painted Leonard Vassall with his father in 1772. Lenorard has his hair combed back and wore it long at the back.

William Mosley Family (1791)

Here we see a Charles Mosley with his mother, the wife of William Mosley. Charles wears a classic , bright red skeleton suit, a clear illustration of how European fashions dominated American fashions at the time, at least that of the European elite. Also note Charles' long hair. The portrait was painted in 1791 by Ralph Earl, and is located at the Yale Univ. Art Gallery. The subjects are Mrs. William Mosely and her son Charles. We know nothing more about the Mosleys. We note some portraits of his portraits being attributed to his son Ralph E. W. Earl. His son was also an important early American portraitist.

Created: March 12, 1998
Last updated: 8:41 PM 12/24/2007