Owner/Location:Travellers Rest Historic House Museum 636 Farrell Parkway Nashville, Tennessee 37220 website
Frame Dimensions:34 x 28.5
Image Dimensions:30 x 26
Materials/Media:oil on canvas
Date Documented:12/10/2004
Condition:Good
Description:Seated three-quarters profile of a young matron with a ca. 1820 dress with a lace-trimmed silk headdress. The background is a summer landscape viewed on the left side of the canvas beyond a red drape, characteristic of backgrounds in Earl's work.
History:Donated to Travellers Rest by Con Overton Thompson Ball, great great granddaughter of the subject, in 1978.
Notes:It is thought this portrait was painted at the time of her marriage to Judge Overton in 1820. Mary McConnell White May, 1782-1862, was the daughter of General James White, founder of Knoxville, TN. In the background can be seen mountains, typical of the landscape in East Tennessee. She was the widow of Dr. Francis May and the mother of five May children. She had three children after her marriage to Judge Overton.
