Mary Sylvester

Joseph Blackburn

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mary Sylvester (1725–1794) was born at Southold, Long Island. She was the daughter of Brinley and Mary Sylvester and the sister of Margaret, later Mrs. David Chesebrough (see 16.68.3). Her portrait was most likely painted in 1754, the year in which Blackburn painted the portrait of her sister and of Abigail Chesebrough (Stonington Historical Society, Connecticut). In accordance with her unmarried status, Blackburn depicted Mary Sylvester as a shepherdess, the lamb at her side a symbol of purity and innocence. Although an exact source has not yet been identified, it has been assumed that Blackburn derived this allegorical representation from a British mezzotint. In 1756 Mary Sylvester was married in Newport to Thomas Dering, a Boston merchant. The exceptionally fine carved, painted and gilded frame is original to the portrait.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art