Ann Proctor with Doll and Parrott

By Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827)
Baltimore, Maryland, c.1789
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Donated by Arunah Brady in 1953

Ann Proctor (1783-1815) was the daughter of John Proctor (1745-1790), who was born in England and settled in Baltimore as a young man. This portrait was painted when Ann was six years old. Artist Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) noted in his journal that he finished the painting in one sitting. Peale’s nephew Charles Peale Polk (1767-1822) painted a portrait of Ann’s older sister Mary Proctor. This painting was donated to the museum in 1953 at the same time as Ann’s portrait.

The doll (c.1785) in the painting was passed down through the family and was donated along with the painting. The doll is original except for the arms and the clothing. This painting Ann, the doll, and the portrait of Ann’s sister Mary are grouped together in the North East Bedchamber of the Hammond-Harwood House.

Hammond-Harwood House receives many requests for photos of this painting. Ms. Proctor can be found in several articles, exhibition catalogs, and books, including the American Girl Doll series character Felicity and After the American Revolution by Barbara Smith Clark.

The “Morland” style frame is original to the period, but not to the painting, and was purchased from England by one of Hammond-Harwood House Association’s founders,Winifred Gordon, in 1961.

Parrots, of course, were not native to the North American colonies. Traveling sailors frequently picked up exotic birds during their visits to the islands, Africa, and South America. They were brought to America and given to family and friends as gifts or sold to wealthy customers like the Proctors. These birds therefore are a symbol of wealth. This bird caught the eye of The Charleston Museum’s Curator of Historical Archaeology, Martha Zierdan, when she wrote her 2016 book Charleston, an Archaeology of Life in a Coastal Community. From her research we learned that this parrot is a Rose Ringed Parakeet native to sub-Saharan Africa. Typically these birds live from 20 to 30 years, so if the bird was young in this painting, it certainly could have been in Ann’s household when she was an adult.

By Rachel Lovett, Curator