Elizabeth (Christian) Humber
ARTIST: William Hodgson (1748-1806) was a London-born artist who emigrated to Virginia during the Revolutionary War. Previously called “The Payne Limner”—based on ten surviving portraits of the Payne family—he worked in Richmond and the surrounding counties of Henrico, Hanover, and Goochland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Approximately 18 of his works are now known. None of these works bears a signature or date, and the attributions are based on the strong stylistic similarities among the various portraits. The discovery of a portrait of Elizabeth Christian Humber (d.1835) (MESDA acc. 5984.1), Hodgson’s daughter’s mother-in-law cemented the attribution.
DESCRIPTION: An oil on canvas, half-length portrait of an older woman holding a book and wearing a black dress with a white apron, kerchief, and cap.
