Sunday

Unknown - Master William Crutchley


The sitter in this unsigned miniature portrait is Master William Crutchley. The miniature appears to be American in style.

William Crutchley is an uncommon name and so a review has been made of United States census records. Miniatures were normally only purchased by wealthy families, especially after the introduction of the daguerreotype. This one looks to have been painted around 1860, and the sitter to be aged around 15 years old.

Given this, the most likely identity for the sitter seems to be W F Crutchley who is recorded in the 1870 census as a physican, living in Washington and born in Virginia in 1843. He lived there with his wife Annie, two children and what appears to be two of his brothers and his sister. It is interesting to note that one brother, Westley Crutchley, was a painter's apprentice at that time.

However, his Crutchley family does not seem to appear in census records for other years. 587

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