Portrait of Anna Dibble Tucker

Ralph Earl American, 1751-1801
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About the Artwork

In this portrait of Anna Dibble Tucker (1759-1837), the artist Ralph Earl signified Anna's prosperity, refinement, virtue, and religious piety. Seated in a silk-upholstered armchair, she wears a gray silk dress in the conservative robe à l’anglaise style and looks up from her carefully stitched floral needlework. The white steeple of the First Church in her town of Danbury, Connecticut, appears through the open window. This portrait reflects the period's culture of domesticity that shaped expectations for gendered behaviors.

Earl painted this portrait of Anna and a pendant of her husband, Thomas Tucker (1744-1820), in 1790. In the late 1780s and 1790s, Earl traveled around Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont as an itinerant painter. The meticulous detail of his portraits attracted commissions from middle-class merchants, farmers, ministers, and politicians in that region.

Portrait of Anna Dibble Tucker

1790

Ralph Earl

1751-1801

American

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Oil on canvas

Overall: 37 3/4 × 31 3/4 inches (95.9 × 80.6 cm)

Paintings

American Art before 1950

Museum Purchase, Gibbs-Williams Fund

2024.14

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Markings

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance

Please note:This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Ralph Earl, Portrait of Anna Dibble Tucker, 1790, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Gibbs-Williams Fund, 2024.14.

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Portrait of Anna Dibble Tucker
Portrait of Anna Dibble Tucker