Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue)

Artist: Henrietta Johnston (ca. 1674–1729)

Date: ca. 1708–10

Culture: American

Medium: Pastel and red and black chalk on toned laid paper.

Dimensions: 11 x 8 9/16 in. (27.9 x 21.7 cm)

Classification: Drawings

Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, 1947

Accession Number: 47.103.23

Description

The pastels of the Bacots (see also 47.103.24) were among the first that Johnston executed in Charleston, South Carolina, just following her arrival there from Dublin. The artist rendered the Bacots’ facial features with precision and blended colors, particularly in the hair, as she had done in Ireland. Pierre Bacot, also called Peter, was born in Tours, France, in 1684 and was brought by his family to South Carolina as an infant. After his father’s death in 1702, Bacot moved to Goose Creek, where he bought and sold land for a living. He married Marianne Fleur Du Gue sometime after 1705.

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