Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Portrait |
Title |
First "Little Willie" |
Object ID |
2014.04.01 |
Description |
Portrait of "Little Willie" painted in the mid-19th century. Painting is of a young boy on a blue background. The image is meant to be unfinished as at the time of painting, the parents felt that the portrait depicted the boy looking out at them through the clouds in Heaven. "Little Willie," or William Jarvis Simkins, was the son of Dr. Jesse Jarvis Simkins and his wife Laura of Northampton County. They had two sons named William Jarvis that both died at a young age. The "Little Willie" painted here was the first son to carry the name. He died sometime in the 1840s after choking on an apple. Dr. Simkins and Laura commissioned the portrait while the boy was still alive but decided to leave it unfinished. |
Artist |
Unidentified, Possibly George Esten Cooke |
Medium |
Oil on canvas |
Collection |
Portraits |
People |
Simkins, William Jarvis |
Search Terms |
Simkins |
Subjects |
People Children |
Year Range from |
1840 |
Year Range to |
1860 |