The Winterthur Library

The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Creator: Chambers, Eunice

Title: Papers

Dates: 1930-1967

Call No.: Col. 451

Acc. No.: 72x123

Quantity: 1 box [ca. 160 items]

Location: 9/C/2

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

Miss Eunice Chambers was a dealer and collector of American art who lived in Hartsville, South Carolina, from the 1930s to the 1960s. She apparently died in 1971. Chambers considered herself a specialist in the works of Samuel Finley Breese Morse.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

This collection primarily contains correspondence between Eunice Chambers and various scholars, museum directors, libraries, and art collectors from 1930-1967. Most letters pertain to the numerous early American portraits that Chambers collected and resold. She often approached private owners of particular paintings and wrote to them, asking them if they would be willing to sell their items. Chambers also actively solicited purchasers for her paintings. Often, she would go to great lengths to thoroughly research the provenance of the works and the history of the subject of these paintings. Through the help of various libraries and scholars, she was able to attribute several unidentified paintings.

Much of the correspondence includes more than one topic per letter. Such letters have retained their original placement within the collection. Copies of replies and multiple drafts of letters were typed by Chambers on scrap paper or on the verso of another letter. These letters therefore may not be filed under the proper heading. Therefore, the researcher will find it necessary to examine nearly every item in the collection. The photographs from the collection have been removed to the Decorative Arts Photographic Collection.

ORGANIZATION

Broken into two series: information about painters and general correspondence. Both are arranged alphabetically by last name. Folders contents are arranged chronologically.

PROVENANCE

This collection was acquired by Winterthur in 1971 through a bequest from

Eunice Chambers.

ACCESS POINTS

Authors

Fielding, Mantle, 1865-1941--correspondent

Webb, Electra, 1882-1960--correspondent

People:

Allston, Washington, 1779-1843

Bridges, Charles, 1794-1869

Durand, John, fl. 1766-1782

Earl, Ralph, 1751-1801

Elliot, Charles Loring, 1812-1868

Jarvis, John Wesley, 1781-1839

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872

Neagle, John, 1796-1865

Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827

Read, Thomas Buchanan, 1822-1872

Savage, Edward, 1761-1817

Scarborough, William H., 1812-1871

Stuart, Gilbert, 1785-1828

West, Benjamin, 1738-1820

Wollaston, John, fl. 1736-1767

Topics

Artists

Portrait painters

Lists

Correspondence

Painting--Attribution

Portrait painting, American

Portrait painting--Expertising

Art--Collectors and collecting

Painting, Colonial--United States

Painting--History

Shelburne Museum

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Location: 9/C/2

SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE ABOUT PAINTERS

Box 1:

Folder 1: Washington Allston

Contains correspondence with Dr. Irving Levitt of Detroit who purchased Allston's “Time After Sunset” from her. Provenance of the painting is revealed. Other correspondence includes a letter from The National Gallery in London regarding the exhibition of Allston paintings there, and letters to the University of London and Lord Egremont concerning paintings by Allston in the Petworth collection. Chambers also wrote to Theodore Lyman of Boston who supposedly owned an Allston painting.

Folder 2: Charles Bridges

Contains correspondence with Laura (Mrs. Jack) Brantley of Savannah, Georgia, concerning a portrait by Bridges. Three other items contain biographical information about Bridges and the subject of the portrait.

Folder 3: John Durand

Contains correspondence pertaining to the provenance and authentication of a portrait of Dudley Woodbridge. Also included is biographical information about Dudley Woodbridge.

Folder 4: Ralph Earl

Contains four lists of paintings by Ralph Earl.

Folder 5: Charles Loring Elliot

Contains correspondence to and from Mrs. Helen Bullock of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, concerning a portrait of Cyrus McCormick by Charles Loring Elliot. Chambers also wrote to Herbert Collins, curator of paintings at the Smithsonian, and to Dr. James A. Jones, president of the Union Theological Seminary, offering the portrait for sale.

Folder 6: John Wesley Jarvis

Contains a short biography of Jarvis and one of John Marshall, the subject of a Jarvis portrait.

Folder 7: Samuel Finley Breese Morse

Contains correspondence from Carleton Mabee concerning a portrait of a Col. Drayton; a letter from Gulnar Bosch in regards to purchasing furniture for Lousiana State University; and several from W.E. Groves concerning his personal collection of portraits and answering her question about a possible Morse painting. A subsequent letter concerns the possible sale of his paintings to Chambers. Several letters and telegrams to and from James Fosburgh describe his efforts to find someone to purchase the Drayton portrait by Morse and donate it to the White House. Also included is a biography of Col. Drayton, as well as the provenance and a description of the painting. Several other letters from Chambers indicate that she owned several other Morse paintings.

Folder 8: John Neagle

Contains three letters concerning a portrait of M.L. Hurlburt painted by John Neagle in 1839. Some description of the painting and biographical information about Hurlburt is included.

Folder 9: Charles Willson Peale

Contains two letters regarding portraits by Charles Willson Peale, one of which depicts John Wesley. Also mentioned is a painting by Theus.

Folder 10: Thomas Buchanan Read

Contains a letter from Jay Johns of the Stonewall Jackson Memorial requesting information on a portrait of General Sheridan painted by Read. Chambers wrote back with little information on the portrait, but told of a collection of items owned by Sheridan.

Box 11: Edward Savage

Contains several letters with John Marshall Phillips, Curator of the Garvan Collection at Yale University, concerning a portrait of Nathaniel Russell by Edward Savage, which Yale was ultimately unable to purchase. According to another letter, Chambers was authorized to sell several other portraits by Savage owned by Sidney Morse. Morse also wrote to Chambers describing the provenance of his family portraits. Also included is biographical and genealogical information about Jedediah Morse and Nathaniel Russell, the subjects of Savage’s portraits. Descriptions of the paintings and one photograph are housed in this folder as well.

Folder 12: William H. Scarborough

Contains letters to Thomas and Margaret Law offering three portraits of his ancestors painted by Scarborough. Law’s wife replied with family history. Subsequently, Chambers offered these portraits for sale to Mr. and Mrs. Child, cousins of the Laws. A one page biography of Scarborough is also included.

Folder 13: Gilbert Stuart

Contains several letters concerning a portrait of Mr. Dudley supposedly by Gilbert Stuart which Chambers tries to verify. Also included is a photostat of two portraits by Trumbull.

Folder 14: Benjamin West

Contains correspondence concerning a painting she owned of Mrs. West and her son Raphael at age one, painted by Benjamin West. There was much confusion about the provenance of this painting because West painted four copies of it. Correspondence with Violet Green (former owner of painting), Helmut von Erffa (West scholar from Rutgers University), Phyllis Borland and Lavinia Bacon (librarians at Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London), the late Earl of Buckingham’s secretary, Ross Watson (Assistant. Keeper of City Museum and Art Gallery of Birmingham), R.E. Hutchison (keeper, Scottish National Portrait Gallery), and Lord Lothian of Scotland. Also included are lists and descriptions of all of the known copies of this painting, and a list of correspondence kept by Chambers.

Folder 15: John Wollaston

Contains one letter from H. Rodney Sharp who was not willing to purchase a portrait by Wollaston. Other items are descriptions of portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Pontius Steele (Rachel Barnes) and genealogical information about the Steele and Barnes families.

SERIES 2: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE

Box 1

Folder 16: Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Dean

Contains letters attempting to determine the painter and date of a portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Dean of New York City and Poughkeepsie, NY. Letters were exchanged with James Heslin of the New-York Historical Society, Hannah Howell of the Frick Art Reference Library, Louis Jones of the New York State Historical Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Sharon (Connecticut) Historical Society.

Folder 17: Mantle Fielding

Contains 11 letters from Philadelphia architect and art historian Mantle Fielding from 1930-1935. Correspondence pertains to the authentication of various portraits owned or for sale by Chambers, including a miniature of George Washington. Information about Gilbert Stuart is also included.

Folder 18: Webb Family

Contains correspondence to and from Electra Webb, co-founder of the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. Mrs. Webb purchased a number of paintings for her museum from Chambers, including one of Elizabeth Bancker Webb by John Durand. Much information was exchanged about the provenance of the picture, and the fact that despite the published facts, incorrect information about this portrait was published by Alice Winchester and Waldron Phoenix Belknap, Jr. Mrs. Webb turned down the purchase of several other paintings offered by Chambers, since she was looking for specific artists to complete her collection. After Mrs. Webb’s death in 1960, her son, J. Watson Webb, Jr., assumed directorship of the museum. Despite her persistent attempts, Chambers was unable to sell him any paintings. Also included is correspondence with Thomas Leavitt, director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Folder 19: Lists of paintings owned by others

Contains several lists of paintings done by miscellaneous artists and owned by other collectors. Two lists are of paintings by the artist Theus owned by other collectors.

Folder 20: Miscellaneous letters

Contains correspondence; a list of correspondence sent and received in 1966; a letter from William Tweel regarding portrait painter Charles Fenderich (undated); a letter concerning a portrait by John Hesselius; one from Donald Gibbs of the Redwood Library in Newport regarding a portrait of John Rindge by Peter Pelham; a letter from James Heslin of the New-York Historical Society about the genealogy of Marshall Jenkins; and a copy of a letter to Charles Jacobsen regarding the purchase of oriental rugs. One black and white photo of Lyndon Johnson during a dedication in 1959 at the Senate Reception Room at the Capitol is also included. A portrait of Daniel Webster is visible in the photo.

Folder 21: negatives

two black and white negatives of a painting by Benjamin West.