lucy in the painting with the blue dress

Today's find on Ancestry: 2nd cousin 7x removed, Comfort Starr Mygatt and his daughter, Lucy.

Comfort Starr Mygatt and his daughter, Lucy, 1799

From the Yale University Art Gallery:

Artist: John Brewster, Jr., American, 1766–1854
Comfort Starr Mygatt and Lucy Mygatt (1763–1823; 1794–1885)1799

Oil on canvas54 x 39 1/2 in. (137.16 x 100.33 cm) framed: 60 x 46 1/4 in. (152.4 x 117.475 cm)Gift of Jane and Gerald Katcher, LL.B. 19502007.200.1The portraits by the itinerant deaf artist John Brewster open a window into the lives of New England’s merchant class. Here, the prosperous Danbury, Connecticut, shopkeeper, silversmith, and watchmaker Comfort Starr Mygatt poses with his five-year-old daughter, Lucy. The heart of the painting lies in their barely touching fingers. Stripping the scene of inessential detail, Brewster focuses attention on the unspoken bond between the relaxed father and the solemn little girl raising her hand to touch him. The emotion inherent in the gesture transcends the specifics of time and place.Geography:
Made in Danbury, ConnecticutCulture:
AmericanPeriod:
18th centuryClassification:
PaintingsStatus:
On viewBibliography:

Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2007), 31, 348, pl. 1.
“Acquisitions, July 1, 2007–June 30, 2008,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2008): 180, ill.