Artist/Maker

Alexander, Isaac Brownfield

Place Made

Date Made

1833

Medium

watercolor –graphite –ink on paper

Dimensions

HOA: 5″; WOA: 4 1/16″

Accession Number

5661

Description

Isaac Brownfield Alexander (1812-1884) was born in Camden, South Carolina. His father, Dr. Isaac V. Alexander, had been educated at Princeton. Isaac Brownfield Alexander and his brother Henry Dana Ward Alexander (1810-1865) were both educated at the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy in Norwich, Vermont. This is his earliest work: a miniature self-portrait on paper in which he surrounds himself with the ephemera of a classical education. (MESDA loan 5661)

In 1842 he advertised as an artist, jeweler, and silversmith in the Camden Journal. Two miniatures by him are in the Gibbes Museum of Art Collection in Charleston. Alexander embraced the newest technology of his day, becoming an early practitioner of photography. He opened early daguerreotype studios in Camden and Columbia, South Carolina, and in Charlotte, North Carolina. This new technology helped to eliminate the demand for portraits on ivory and democratized portraiture.

RELATED OBJECTS: A miniature portrait of his daughter Ann Lucetta Alexander (1835-1915) (MESDA acc. 5602)

DESCRIPTION: Portrait of a young man with black hair and side burns and a mouth set firmly, looking directly at the viewer. He wears a white shirt with larged pointed collar, a brown and white checked tie/cravat and a dark jacket. Only his right hand is shown and he appears to be holding an object. Just underneath his hand is a reddish-brown book. The background shows a partial window or doorway behind his left shoulder, with greenery. Directly behind the sitter is a plain brownish-gray wall and to his right sits a bust on what appears to be a piece of furniture, but due to loss is undetermined. To the very right is a red tiered drapery with gold fringe.

REFERENCES: Robert Leath, “Miniature Discoveries”, The Magazine Antiques, February 2010. http://www.themagazineantiques.com/article/miniature-discoveries/

History

Descended in the family of the artist.

Artist Biography

ARTIST: Isaac B. Alexander (1812-1884) is an exceeding rare artist. He is known by a signed and dated miniature of Mrs. Peter Smith in the collection of the Gibbes Museum of Art. He is said to have worked in Charleston in 1839. Alexander was born in Camden, South Carolina. He probably also worked as an itinerant daguerrian between 1842-1848. Additionaly, I.B. Alexander is listed in Cuthbert, Early Art and Artists in West Virginia as a portrait painter working in Jefferson County, West Virginia (then Virginia) during the mid-19th century. Cuthbert notes that a number of Alexander’s works survive in private collections in the Charles Town area. (Information provided by Elle Shushan)

Credit Line

Loan courtesy of Alexander P.Berrang named after Isaac Brownfield Alexander. In memory of the McCreight family of Camden, SC.