Adaline Peters Brown 1843 - 1846

John Henry Brown painted this portrait of Adaline Peters Brown on ivory, at a small scale. Paintings on ivory were common in the United States and Europe throughout the 1800s, a period that predates the widespread use of photography, and a time when images circulated on a smaller scale, and within tighter social networks. The miniature format lent itself to intimacy, as these portraits were often kept close to the body, and the likenesses they offered provided enduring connection between family members and lovers. These paintings were luxury items for private consumption, and so they reveal the sitter's access to wealth and leisure. We can only speculate as to the specific meanings this painting might have held for the Brown family, but by examining the painting alongside other objects and documents from the period, historians can shed light on the painting's relationship to the broader social and institutional context of 19th century America.