  
  About the Artwork
  
  
  Mary Hirst (1704 &acirc;&#128;&#147; 1789) holds in her hand a silver rattle set with a piece of red coral. This luxurious toy is an emblem of her age &acirc;&#128;&#148; coral was thought to ease the pain of an infant teething &acirc;&#128;&#148; and a demonstration of her family&acirc;&#128;&#153;s prosperity. The artist who painted this portrait remains unknown, but historians call him the &acirc;&#128;&#156;Pepperrell Limner&acirc;&#128;&#157; after portraits of the Pepperrell family in Kittery, Maine. Orphaned as a teenager, Hirst went to live with her grandfather, the prominent judge and diarist Samuel Sewall.

Mary married her childhood neighbor William Pepperrell in 1723. William was one of the wealthiest men in colonial New England and was named a British baronet for his military service during King George&acirc;&#128;&#153;s War (1744 &acirc;&#128;&#147; 48), making his wife Lady Mary Pepperrell.
  
  
  Title
  Mary Hirst
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1710
  
  Artist
  Attributed to Pepperell Limner
  
  
  
  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  American
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  ----------
  
  
  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 33 &Atilde;&#151; 25 1/2 inches (83.8 &Atilde;&#151; 64.8 cm)
  Framed: 40 3/16 &Atilde;&#151; 32 3/8 &Atilde;&#151; 2 7/8 inches (102.1 &Atilde;&#151; 82.2 &Atilde;&#151; 7.3 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  American Art before 1950
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Dexter M. Ferry, Jr.
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  48.163
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
