Royall Brewster Smith (1801-1855)

(Hannah Ayer Clifford illustrated) Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo, "Beyond Tradition: A Folk Art Collection in New Hampshire," Antiques & Fine Art, vol. VII, issue 2, Summer/Autumn 2006, p. 138.

Each is lined, with a replaced stretch and scattered inpainting (including the face). Period gilt frames: 36 1/4 by 31 inches.
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Born in Rumney, New Hampshire, Nathan Clifford (1803-1881) studied at the Haverhill Academy before studying law. In 1827, he was admitted to the bar and opened a practice in Newfield, Maine, where he met and married Hannah Ayer (1811-1892) in 1833. His career was long and successful, serving in the Maine House of Representatives, as Attorney General of Maine, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Attorney General (appointed by President James K. Polk), U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, and as an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court (nominated by President James Buchanan).

This exceptional pair of portraits is, in many ways, typical of Smith’s work, including the green-tinted light area surrounding the head of Nathan Clifford. Hannah Clifford, however, may be unique given the highly unusual concentric “halos” in progressively darker shades of green.