Lots of Essays (Samuel P. Howes, Jonas Welch Holman, and William Matthew Prior)
Upcoming at Eldred's this week (Nov 20-21, 2025) are three lots I've had the privilege of writing essays for: portraits by Samuel P. Howes, Jonas Welch Holman, and William Matthew Prior. The Howes and Holman are from my own collection, personally identified. You can read the lot essays on this page, or on the various online auction platforms. While it's challenging to part with any newfound treasures, they're ready for new homes.
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Both auctions will begin at 9:30 EST, but keep in mind: Session II (Nov 20, 2025) starts at #5301, so #5438B and C - the Holmans and the Howes - will be about 137 lots into the auction, a little over two hours. I promise they are well worth the wait! And Session III (Nov 21, 2025) starts at #5601, so #5603 - the Prior - is up right away. Good luck to all!
Though his career evolved with the times, Samuel P. Howes (1806-1881) was always a portrait painter at heart. Even as a daguerreotypist in the 1850s, in his advertisements, he emphasized his ability to match the quality of a painting - a career which he must have sorely missed. But the portrait shown here, a pleasant and affable young lady, was painted years before the rise of the photograph: c. 1835, as suggested by folk portrait expert Dr. Paul D'Ambrosio of Fenimore Museum, author of "Samuel P. Howes, Portrait Painter" (1986) and "Folk Art's Many Faces" (1987).
While we don't know this young lady's name, her style makes her instantly recognizable as a Howes portrait. She may have been one of Lowell's "mill girls," young women who worked in the city's booming textile industry in the 1830s and 40s, like her fellow Howes portrait subject Eleanor Norton Flagg (New Hampshire Historical Society, #1968.066.01). In 1835, Howes opened a portrait studio in Lowell, offering full-size likenesses from $10 to $30. Mill girls earned between $2.25 and $3.50 per week, minus $1.25 for room and board. It would have taken these girls a few months to save up for a fancy portrait like this.
Dressed in her elegantly lacy shawl, gold beads, and ornamental pin, the young lady fits the style of the times. Her likeness is not idealized, but rendered with care and distinction. While having her on display in my own portrait gallery, I found that the longer I looked at her, the more I liked her. Her direct gaze and unconventional looks are compelling, displaying Howes's quintessential folky charm. The sitter's name may have been lost, but it is fortunate that we now know the artist's name, restoring her sense of place and identity.
Sources:
https://lowelllibrary.org/about-us/library-art-collection/
https://richardhowe.com/2014/06/18/family-portraits-by-an-early-lowell-painter/
https://americanfolkportraits.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Samuel_P._Howes
https://www.nhhistory.org/object/142257/painting
Jonas Welch Holman painted this well-dressed couple sometime during the late 1840s, when he was working as an itinerant painter and preacher, traveling from Maine to Massachusetts and everywhere in between. Holman was a true New England Renaissance man: he earned a Harvard medical degree, gave sermons at Baptist churches, and wrote poetry in his spare time. Portrait painting was just one of many vocations in which he thrived. His people skills must have been exceptional: he was frequently hired to reform congregations that had fallen into disarray, many of which were not Baptist at all! Though he didn't advertise his artistic services, Holman took portrait commissions along the way, producing a recognizable group of elegant likenesses that occupy several prominent New England museums today.
The lady and gentleman's paintings offered here are no longer known by name, but represent Holman's typical style of genteel portraiture. He has placed in their hands a flower and a book respectively, adding a hint of character and individual personality. The floral motif is prominently mirrored in the lady's delicate shawl, an elegant piece of translucent lace. Her matching pin and earrings enhance her well-polished look, and a sophisticated carved tortoiseshell comb finishes off the whole ensemble.
Placed on display, these portraits do not scream for attention, but their simple, subtle dignity can enhance any space. In my own collection, I hung them above eye level, adjacent to a stairwell; they work equally well in various formats, facing away or towards each other. Up close, one can appreciate the fine detail in the lady's shawl, but displayed at a distance, the stately portraits lend a certain gravitas. The concept of "instant ancestors" may be a trendy term, but these two fit the bill - they are full of historical presence, but at the same time, they are comfortably familiar.
Sources:
https://americanfolkportraits.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:Jonas_Welch_Holman
WILLIAM MATTHEW PRIOR Invaluable / Liveauctioneers / Eldreds.com - #5603, Nov 21
William Matthew Prior's long career ran the gamut from gilding to glazing, but his true passion was capturing likenesses. While his colleagues in East Boston often focused on decorative flair and graphic design, Prior's priority was plain, elegant portraiture. Most often, he favored simple and honest compositions that place the sitters against a plain backdrop, such as the boy and girl seen here. These portrait sketches, known best as the "flat style," are subtle and swiftly executed, offering all of the talent at a quarter of the standard price.
Though this portrait is characteristically small-scale (14 x 22 in), it has all the impact of a large life-size image. The muted palette lends this double portrait an ethereal quality, but the children's vibrant, lively faces indicate they were painted from life. Other painters in the Prior-Hamblin School frequently spiced up their compositions with vivid crimson curtains, but not Prior. That eye-catching red paint is only used on the little girl's dress. She and her brother are the stars of the show.
The sitters are most likely from Boston, where Prior maintained his "Painting Garret" studio in the 1840s. There can be no doubt as to its authorship. Countless signed Prior portraits show the same techniques, subtly and efficiently capturing the person's features with an economy of quick, nervous brushstrokes. Prior can be distinguished from his contemporaries by his academic quality; he knew how to distill a sense of realism, and he fused it with the simplicity of the flat style.
By inventing that style, cleverly marketing it, and teaching it to his fellow artists, Prior revolutionized the genre of portrait painting in the 1840s. He made it affordable and accessible for average citizens long before photography swept the nation. Prior would be astonished to learn the value of his work today. He might never have imagined its enduring importance. But it is a testament to his ability, that these lovable likenesses are still incredibly sought after.
Provenance: From the Martha Hamilton collection. Martha was a renowned folk art expert, appraiser for Antiques Roadshow, and collector extraordinaire. Read her biography here from Eldred's Americana Week: https://issuu.com/eldredsauction/docs/2025_americana_week_the_collection_of_martha_hami/7
Sources & references:
https://americanfolkportraits.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:William_Matthew_Prior
https://www.incollect.com/articles/the-celebrated-william-matthew-prior
https://collection.terraamericanart.org/people/321/william-matthew-prior
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