Lot 926
  • 926

Isaac Heston (1746-1824)

Estimate
140,000 - 180,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Isaac Heston
  • Portrait of Catherine Clinton Heston (1755-1804) with an Apron Full of Flowers 
  • Oil on poplar panel
  • 25 3/4 by 20 in.
  • Southeastern Pennsylvania

Provenance

Joan R. Brownstein Art & Antiques, Newbury, Massachusetts.

Exhibited

Washington Headquarters Museum, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1906-82.

Literature

Robert Bishop and Jacqueline Atkins, Folk Art in American Life, (New York: Viking Studio Press, 1995), p. 6.

Condition

Scattered inpainting throughout with one thin area on the upper right hand corner of the background which has been inpainted. Overall very good condition, retains original frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Isaac Heston was the son of Jacob and Mary Warner Heston, and brother of Colonels Thomas and Edward W. Heston.  He was born October 30, 1746, in Bucks County, and married Catherine Clinton, daughter of William Clinton, of Dublin.  She was born in 1755 and died November 4, 1807.  Isaac Heston was working in the plumbing business in Philadelphia with his brother Thomas. At the beginning of the Revolution, when the British army under command of General Howe, took possession of Philadelphia in September 1777, Heston lost everything and his furniture and other property was confiscated. After refusing to swear allegiance to the King, he was forced to flee from the city, and pretending to take a walk with his young wife and two small children, he moved to Bucks County and lived there with his family in a school-house for a season.  He joined the Continental army, and was a member of the Silk Stocking Company, or sect of Free Quakers, to which other members of the Heston Family belonged.  After the war he was actively engaged in politics and was elected to the Legislature in Lancaster.  He had seven children: Mary Heston (1775-1791), Jacob Heston (1776-1804), William Heston (1779-1835), Thomas Heston (1782-1859), Isaac Heston (1788-1788), Esther Heston (1791-1791), and Susannah Heston (1794-1794).1

An advertisement from an old Pennsylvania Chronicle suggests that Heston had an alternative livelihood: PAINTING performed by ISAAC HESTON in the neatest Manner, viz. Coach, Chaise, Chair, Sign, or any kind of Landscape Painting; - also Lettering and Gilding.  He will take the utmost care to satisfy all those who will favour him with their commands; and is to be spoke with at THOMAS WILLIAM's in Second-Street, between Market and Chestnut Streets.2

Isaac and Catherine Clinton were married at Swedes' Church in Philadelphia on June 7, 1774.3 

1Record of the Family of Zebulon Heston and his wife Dorothy Heston, (Bridgeton, New Jersey: A.M. Heston), 1888), p. 550-560.
2Advertisement. The Pennsylvania Chronicle, June 27 - July 4, 1768, vol. II, issue 23, p. 184.
3Record of Pennsylvania Marriages, Prior to 1810. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968), p. 399.