First Public Viewing of Goldsborough Family Portraits at St. John’s College’s Mitchell Gallery

A special exhibition organized by The Hammond Harwood House will be on view at St. John’s College’s Mitchell Gallery from June 17 - July 8.  This exhibition, “Goldsborough Family Portraits,” will focus on a distinctive American painter, John Hesselius (1728-1778), who lived and painted in Maryland during the Colonial era.  The Mitchell Gallery is free and open to the public; for gallery hours visit www.stjohnscollege.edu.

The exhibition will bring together, for the first time to the public, four Hesselius portraits of Henrietta Maria Tilghman Robins Goldsborough. Though very similar, these portraits of Henrietta are each slightly different and fascinating to compare,” says Lisa Mason-Chaney, curator of the exhibition and assistant director of the Hammond-Harwood House. Additional family portraits and silver pieces belonging to the sitter and other family members will also be on display at the Mitchell Gallery.


Charlotte Fletcher, a former librarian at St. John’s College, and her sister Mary bequeathed to The Hammond-Harwood House one of the portraits of Henrietta Maria Tilghman Robins Goldsborough two years ago. “While doing preliminary research I discovered that she had four portraits painted to give to her four daughters.  Locating all four portraits was very exciting, as each one is different,” says Mason-Chaney.

Three of the portraits are currently in museums and one is in a private collection. Chaney and her colleagues at Hammond-Harwood also found two portraits of the daughters as well as silver that Henrietta Maria Tilghman Robins Goldsborough had given the daughters.  Says Mason-Chaney, “The little boy in one of the portraits is Goldsborough’s grandson. He died shortly after the portraits are painted, as did the sitter.”



John Hesselius is a noted and prolific Maryland painter of the pre-Revolutionary period. More than 100 paintings are attributed to him. While Hesselius grew up in Philadelphia, he made frequent trips to Maryland and Virginia. He met his wife, the wealthy young widow Mary Woodward, in Annapolis, and married her in 1763. Woodward was the daughter of Colonel Richard Young, whose association with Hesselius afforded the painter the opportunity for exposure among the landholding aristocracy of the Annapolis region. Hesselius and his wife lived on the "Bellefield" plantation on the Severn River.  He lived and painted there for the rest of his life. He gave Charles Willson Peale his first painting instruction.


The Hammond-Harwood House is a five-part Anglo-Palladian historic house museum that is an outstanding example of American colonial architecture. The collection of late 18th- and early 19th-century decorative and fine arts area are among the finest examples of Maryland furniture and paintings.

Opening Reception Monday June 16th, 6:00-8:00 pm, in the Francis Scott Key Lobby, Mellon Hall, St. John's campus. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $15. View the exhibit first! Eat wonderful finger food catered by Palate Pleasers.

Lecture Series 

Wednesday, June 25th from 6:00-8:00, Sian Jones, paintings conservator for two of the Henrietta's, will speak on paintings conservation.

Wednesday, July 2nd from 6:00-8:00, Jennifer Goldsborough, renowned silver expert, will speak on family silver during the Colonial time period.

Tickets are $20 per lecture or $35 for both. HHH member discount $15 lecture/$30 both. The lectures will both take place in the Conversation Room, Mellon Hall, on St. John's campus.

Call 410-263-4683 for more information.

To register for the opening reception or the lecture series, click on the link below:

Click & Pledge