Watercolor on ivory, an oval half-length portrait of sitter identified en verso as James Carroll Sargent (1833-1900) as a young boy with blonde curls wearing a blue jacket with lacy collar, with nature views beyond, housed under glass with gilt mat and carved gilt decorated wood frame retaining partial label from "David Bendann's Fine Art Rooms."

SS 4 1/8 x 3.25 in.; DOA 7 x 6 in.

James Carroll Sargent, brother to Harry Dorsey Gough Sargent (Lot 372) was the son of Sophia Gough Carroll (1813-1857) and Thomas Bartow Sargent (1805-1879), whose marriage of April 12, 1832 is recorded in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 and who are buried in Old Saint Paul's Cemetery in Baltimore, Md. Listed in the Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume III, both of James' parents came from a long line of families who held prominence and influence in early Baltimore. Sophia Gough Carroll was a descendant of Charles Carroll, a leading Maryland patriot who built Mount Clare, a Georgian home and "one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the city."

James Carroll Sargent is listed in the U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865, and in subsequent U.S. Census records of Baltimore, and with various addresses in the U.S. City Directories, 1822-1919.

This portrait has been passed down through the family to the current consignor, whose grandfather, Carroll Van Ness of Baltimore, and mother, Helen Ridgely Van Ness (1945-2018), were direct descendants of the sitter's youngest sister, Helen Bartow Sargent Van Ness (1845-1915).


George Lethbridge Saunders was an acclaimed portrait artist in England prior to his arrival to the United States in 1840, and soon began working in various cities to include Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York, where he was commissioned by the wealthy and influential to paint their portraits. While in Baltimore, Saunders painted members of the Sargent family. The companion Saunders' portraits of Thomas Bartow Sargent and Sophia Carroll Sargent are listed in the "List of Accessions and Loans" in the Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vol. XVI, 1921. His portrait of Jefferson Davis in 1849 when Jefferson was a senator representing Mississippi is exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery.

Good estate condition; not examined out of frame. This lot contains animal or plant material that may be restricted under federal, state, and/or local law. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions of Sale.

$1,500 - 3,500