Mary (Jones) Keating Broughton
The miniature was probably painted around the time of her first marriage to Maurice Keating at St. Philip’s Church on November 19, 1745. Portraits of Mary and her second husband, Alexander Broughton, were painted by Jeremiah Theus. Several portraits of her family by Theus survive in museum collections. These include her mother Mary Odingsell Jones Simmons at The Charleston Museum; brother Samuel Jones at Colonial Williamsburg (CW acc. 2010-25); son Maurice Keating and daughter Mary Broughton Motte at the Gibbes Museum of Art (GM acc. 1957.013.0007, 1986.012); and son-in-law Isaac Motte (NGA acc. 1947.17.12) at the National Gallery of Art.
ARTIST: Mary Roberts (d. 1761) was the wife of Charleston’s early 18th century British-born artist, Bishop Roberts (d. 1739), and the first female professional miniature painter in America. In 1740, she advertised in The South Carolina Gazette, “Face Painting well performed by the said Mary Roberts, who has several Pictures and a Printing Press to dispose of.”
DESCRIPTION: Miniature watercolor portrait on ivory. The oval shaped ivory is mounted in the original gold bracelet clasp frame. A young lady with blue eyes and red lips, facing left, is wearing a white gown trimmed in heavy white lace and her dark hair is pulled back. The background consists of graduated hues of black and gray. The miniature is signed in the background, lower left, “MR”, for Mary Roberts. The reverse has an old label attached which may say “Mrs. J. Jones / or Miss Keating.”
