Lot 195: Francis M. Drexel O/C Portrait of Harriotte Craig Cowan, PA / TN

Francis Martin Drexel (Austrian-American, 1792-1863) oil on canvas portrait of Harriote Adaline Craig of Philadelphia and Tennessee (1795-1867), signed and dated 1819 en verso. The half length portrait depicts Mrs. Craig in a diaphanous white gown with ruffled collar and wearing a diamond ring on her right hand, which she rests on the edge of a chair or settee. It is covered by an embroidered red shawl, which extends to cover the sitter’s left arm. She wears her hair in tight dark curls accented by gold earrings, and stands against an indistinct olive green background. Old, possibly original wide giltwood molded frame. Sight: 29 1/2 in H x 23 3/8 in. W. Frame: 37 in. H x 31 in. W. Biography: Artist Francis Drexel was born in far western Austria and apprenticed to a portrait painter as a youth. He emigrated to Philadelphia from Austria in 1817 and established a studio at 131 South Front Street in a matter of weeks. The Pennsylvania Academy exhibited nine of his oils and a number of drawings in its 1818 exhibition. He continued to exhibit there periodically through 1825. In 1826, family conflict prompted him to sail to South America, and he continued to travel to faraway places throughout the rest of his life, returning occasionally to Philadelphia throughout his life. He eventually abandoned his art career and went into the banking business, moving to Louisville, KY and later San Francisco to take part in the Gold Rush. Sources: The Maine Antiques Digest, Groce and Wallace: The New York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists in America; Peter Falk: Who Was Who In American Art.  The subject, Harriotte Adaline Craige, was born in Philadelphia in 1795 to Margaret and Seth Craige, owner of Philadelphia’s largest cotton mill. She married James Cowan, son of North Carolina plantation owner and Revolutionary War Capt. Thomas Cowan, the same year this portrait was painted. The couple lived briefly in Georgia before moving to Henry County in West Tennessee, where Cowan owned a successful cotton plantation he called Mount Holyoke. They had seven children. Mr. Cowan died in 1864; Mrs. Cowan died in 1867 and is buried in Trenton in Gibson County.

PROVENANCE: A Middle Tennessee estate. 

CONDITION: 1 1/8 in tear at center, to subject’s upper chest/collar, with 1 1/8 in x 5/8 in. area of paint loss, and a 5/8 in hole with paint loss near upper left edge of canvas. A few other small divits, flakes and scratches. Cracquelure throughout and scattered areas of bloom.