Moses B. Russell: Yankee miniaturist

Magazine Antiques, Nov, 2002 by Randall L. Holton, Charles A. Gilday

From among us has gone another, and almost the last Rhode Islander, of that historic group of men to whose keeping the early glories of the American Navy were entrusted, in whose hands its lustre was preserved undimmed, during many years of watchfulness over the honor of the flag, on every sea. (20)

The broad sweep of Hazard's blue uniform, punctuated and enlivened by the gold of the buttons, epaulet, and collar embroidery instantly evokes a bold, forceful presence. His hair and whiskers create a frame within a frame, making his brightly lit face stand out. Two stray locks falling over his forehead, playfully asking to be brushed back by a woman's hand, lessen the severity of the pose. Possibly intended as a gift for Martha DeWolf (b. 1811), whom Hazard married in 1841, the portrait has many of the characteristics we associate with Russell's work--from the large rounded eyes and outlined eyelids to the highlighted nose and the shadow line under the lip and nose. The artist, whose printed signature runs vertically up the lower right side of the painting, employs his typical coloring of pink' blue, and purple in the face and in the hatched and crosshatched background. As in several other works, he left small patches of the background unpainted to let the whiteness and luminosity of the ivory shine through. Russell captured the sturdy pride and vigor of the sitter so realistically that we half expect Lieutenant Hazard to step out of the miniature himself.

Other outstanding examples of Russell's mature work were publicly exhibited at the time. A memorable double portrait of a mother and child, Mrs. Otis C. Norcross and Son Otis (P1. I), depicts the wife and young son of a successful crockery merchant and was exhibited at the Boston Athenaeum in 1839.21 Russell displayed the dignified portrait of the Reverend Edward Norris Kirk (P1. IX) at the Boston Athenaeum exhibition in 1841 and later that same year at the Third Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. The Reverend Mr. Kirk, a prominent evangelist who had led revivals in New York City and Philadelphia, was widely regarded as one of the outstanding pulpit orators in Boston during his long tenure as pastor of the Mount Vernon Church on Beacon Hill. The Boston Daily Evening Transcript of October 2, 1841, in reviewing the Mechanics' Fair; gave favorable notice to Russell's entries:

Mr. M. B. Russell has some miniature paintings, which indicate a wonderful degree of skill, and of so exquisite a finish that they will bear the closest scrutiny, without discovering the slightest defects. Among others, is a very fine one of the Rev. Mr. Kirk, a perfect likeness.

The judges awarded him a silver medal for the "best miniatures" in the exhibition. (22)

Of all the portraits Russell executed for public recognition, none elicited more of a sensation than his colorful full-length depiction of the Seneca Indian chief, Soo-nong-gise, also known as Tom or Tommy Jemmy (P1. XVI). (23) Visiting celebrities were often prevailed upon to have their likenesses recorded, and Russell painted Soo-nong-gise in December 1841 when the Indian appeared with an entourage of warriors for a series of dramatic performances, replete with "war whoop and scalp yell," (24) at the recently opened Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, which featured entertainment as well as cabinets of curiosities and art objects. The seventy-year-old chief, variously described in playbills (25) as "cousin" and "half-brother" of the famous Red Jacket (Sago-ye-watha; c. 1758-1830), fought on the American side in the War of 1812, and so it is no coincidence that close inspection of his headdress reveals the unmistakable suggestion of an American flag as part of its plumage. Bostonians also knew of him thr ough Samuel Gardner Drake's popular Book of the Indians (1841), which provided details of a highly publicized trial in 1821 in which Soo-nong-gise was charged and eventually cleared of murder. Russell's portrait was an instant success and was lauded by Boston newspapers, including the Boston Daily Mail of Januaxy 5, 1842: