This painting, possibly more than any other portrait that Trumbull painted of his wife, conveys real warmth and intimacy. Beauty beyond the normal beauty of women was how Trumbull described Harvey. [1] Still living in England, while their marriage was new, Trumbull paints Harvey in a domestic scene. Standing in a very dark, nearly black setting and placed near a curtain lined with fringe drawn back to reveal a light blue sky with light puffy clouds, Harvey seems at ease. She does not look at the viewer. Instead, her gaze is off to the side of the painting. On her head, she wears a white turban-style headdress. This style of headdress was popular during the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in England and France, for its association with Marie Antoinette, who had a fondness for wearing them. [2] The style is called “al a Turque.” [3] The turban gives a sense of the fanciful to what otherwise feels like a domestic scene.
From underneath her turban, Harvey’s curls frame her face. The end of the turban drapes down Harvey’s neck and she clutches it with her left hand. Interestingly, this is the only portrait in which Mrs. Trumbull can be seen wearing a wedding ring. [4] This portrait is beautiful for its coloring of Harvey’s features. Her eyes appear to be a pale blue, and her white skin is set off by her rosy cheeks. She has delicate eyebrows and pursed lips. As always, she has a prominent nose, which is fortunate because that one feature makes it easy to distinguish Harvey in some of Trumbull’s other works.
Harvey’s small, beaded necklace and delicate dangling earrings are possibly coral. It seems that the earrings might be the same earrings from the introduction painting, but the necklace is different. In the introduction painting the necklace had full round beads but, in this portrait, the coral necklace has beveled beads that seem more elegant than the earlier larger beaded necklace. She wears a white gauzy, empire-styled waist dress. Over the bodice there is an embellishment of rich rusty red fabric that covers her bust. The neckline of the dress is rounded and lower cut than before but there is a gauzy overlayer covering her cleavage that keeps the dress looking feminine and modest. There are puffed and gathered sleeves that are cuffed with a wide cuff at the elbow with the same light gauzy material giving the dress a subtle embellishment. Over the cuff is a large button or even brooch that appears to be garnet. The button is finished with scalloped gold edges.
Harvey is not the only sitter in this portrait. There is a small cocker spaniel with her. The dog is well groomed and is up on its hind legs so that its front two legs can rest on Harvey’s waist. Her right arm rests comfortably on the small dog’s back. The dog raises its head to look at her with devotion. There is no way to know if this is their own dog but this portrait shows Harvey in an affectionate almost maternal light.
The symbolic inclusion of a dog in the portrait would not have been lost on Trumbull. With his eye for details Trumbull and placing subtle clues in paintings would have understood the message of devotion that the little dog implies. The garnets, either real or paste that Harvey wears around her neck, are also a symbol of felicity and constancy. [5] Trumbull’s meaning is clear, Harvey is a devoted and worthy wife.
This painting is thought to be the counterpart to Trumbull’s self-portrait of 1802. [6] The portraits are different in style and finish, but they are a set. These are assumed to have hung with the sitters facing one another, Trumbull on the left and Harvey on the right.
[1] Boettcher, Graham C. “The Artist’s Queen: John Trumbull’s” Sarah Trumbull on Her Deathbed”.
[2] Pointon, Marcia. Hanging the Head: Portraiture and Social Formation in Eighteenth-Century England. Yale University Press, 1993.
[3] Filstrup, Chris, and Jane Merrill. The Turban: A History from East to West. Reaktion Books, 2025.
[4] Cooper, Helen A., editor. John Trumbull: The Hand and Spirit of a Painter.
[5] Boettcher, Graham C. “The Artist’s Queen: John Trumbull’s” Sarah Trumbull on Her Deathbed”.
[6] Cooper, Helen A., editor. John Trumbull: The Hand and Spirit of a Painter.
