CW Librarian Solves Mystery of Unknown Artist

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, November 02, 2010

 

Since Abby Aldrich Rockefeller acquired it in 1935, an 18th century watercolor has stymied scholars, historians and art enthusiasts who hoped to identify its artist. Now, more than 200 years after placing brush to paper, John Rose has been identified as the painter.

Rose’s identity might never have been known if not for the digging of librarian Susan P. Shames. Shames, a decorative arts librarian for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, used primary documents and existing scholarship to revisit “The Old Plantation,” which depicts slaves playing music and dancing.

Shames’ first hint came in 2008, when the foundation acquired a small watercolor portrait of an African American woman called “Miss Breme Jones.” CW’s curatorial staff determined the same artist had created both paintings, but still weren’t sure who that artist could be.

Shames’ research led her to nine possible artists. Carefully reexamining the gathered evidence and existing records, Shames whittled the list down to one artist – John Rose, a plantation owner and slaveholder in South Carolina.

“It was an interesting challenge,” Shames said in a press release. “The project quickly changed from wondering if identifying a previously unknown artist was possible, to delight over the discovery, to excitement that so much information about this important image and its maker could be extracted from the records. Everything about Rose’s life came under scrutiny. It’s the whole process of investigation and discovery that keeps the historical past very much alive and relevant for me.”

Rose was born in the early 1750s; his name first appears in public records as a resident of the Beaufort District in South Carolina in 1775. Shames believes it was there that he painted “The Old Plantation.” He died in Charleston in 1820, leaving the painting in his will to a son-in-law. Since its acquisition by CW, the painting has been reproduced in textbooks and scholarly publications focused on folk art, slave life, music, dance and society.

Shames has served as the decorative arts librarian for CW since 1978. She holds a Ph.D. in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. “Susan Shames has unlocked one of the great secrets of American art,” said Ronald Hurst, CW’s vice president of collections, conservation and museums. “Her diligence and dedication have revealed the career of an obscure 18-th century painter and the lives of the unnamed slaves depicted in an iconic image.

Shames’ quest to find Rose’s identity will be the subject of a new exhibition called “The Old Plantation: The Artist Revealed,” opening Feb. 19, 2011 in the Mary B. and William Lehman Guyton Gallery of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum. An accompanying book, also titled “The Old Plantation: The Artist Revealed,” has been published. The 80-page, illustrated book will be available for purchase later this month for $24.95; it can be purchase online here.