Portrait of Maria Scott With a Cardinal
Oil on Canvas
Circa 1835
Attributed to Samuel T. Taylor (c. 1806-1846)
Prince Edward County, Virginia
29.5″ x 39″ Overall
Maria Louisa Scott (1830-1862) was the daughter of Branch Osborne Scott (1800-1876) and Mary Jane Scott ((1815-1879) of Prince Edward County, Virginia. Samuel Taylor was an itinerant portrait painter working primarily in piedmont Virginia – mostly in the James River basin. The majority of his sitters were well off farmers or other members of the “middling” class living in Powhatan, Albemarle, Louisa, Buckingham, Prince Edward, Campbell and Appomattox counties. Little is known of Taylor’s life and research continues, but he may have been a member of the Taylor family living along Troublesome Creek (a tributary of the Slate River) near Sprouse’s Corner in Buckingham County. Taylor’s work is described by Colonial Williamsburg as of a quality to “suggest he had no formal artistic training. Nevertheless, his use of symbolic props such as books was based on an understanding of common artistic conventions. Like other rural artists, (he) found his clients through word of mouth between his sitters’ relations and neighbors.” He often included a dove or other birds, cats and dogs into his portraits of young children and classical tropes such as tasseled curtains and painted fancy chairs with his adult sitters. A significant number of paintings have been attributed to Taylor him including portraits now in the collections of MESDA, Colonial Williamsburg, the Virginia Historical Society, Lynchburg Museum System and the Valentine Museum.
A very similar portrait by Taylor of Mary Catherine Robinson Trainer was sold by Sotheby’s in 1995 from the important Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Deyerle. See image below.
