Gilded Age Portrait of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Signed William H. McEntee Oil Painting in Antique Gilt Frame

Details

Description

An elegant antique oil portrait depicting Bertha Honoré Palmer (Mrs. Potter Palmer), one of the most prominent American socialites of … Read more An elegant antique oil portrait depicting Bertha Honoré Palmer (Mrs. Potter Palmer), one of the most prominent American socialites of the Gilded Age and an influential cultural figure in Chicago.

Mrs. Palmer was the wife of Chicago hotel magnate Potter Palmer, associated with the historic Palmer House Hotel. She was widely known for her leadership role as president of the World’s Columbian Exposition Board of Lady Managers in Chicago in 1893, where she helped shape the fair’s artistic and cultural programming.

The portrait is signed W. H. McEntee at the lower left and executed in oil on canvas.

Artist

William H. McEntee was born in Almont, Michigan and later worked in Detroit.
He studied in England, Germany, and Paris with noted academic painters including William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gabriel Ferrier.

McEntee exhibited at the prestigious Paris Salon in 1896. He worked as both a portrait and landscape painter and was part of the generation of American artists who trained in Europe before contributing to the development of the Michigan art community at the turn of the twentieth century.

Provenance

The painting retains historic gallery documentation from:

Art Cloister – St. Mary’s Art Guild
Detroit, Michigan

associated with Msgr. Edward J. Hickey, a respected dealer known for handling important historical and ecclesiastical works of art.

A handwritten gallery label on the reverse identifies the sitter as Mrs. Potter Palmer.

The canvas is mounted on a professional artist stretcher bearing a “Colbilt – New York” supplier stamp, consistent with studio materials used by professional artists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Presentation

The painting is presented in an ornate antique gilt composition frame, which complements the elegance of the subject and gives the portrait strong decorative presence.

Portraits of prominent women from the Gilded Age are highly sought after today by collectors and interior designers for their ability to add historic character and visual drama to traditional interiors.

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Dimensions

Framed
Height: 27.5 in
Width: 23.5 in
Depth: 3 in

Canvas approx: 18 x 22 in

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Materials

Oil on canvas
Wood stretcher
Antique gilt composition frame

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Condition

Good antique condition consistent with age. Light craquelure and minor surface wear typical of early twentieth-century oil paintings. The ornate gilt frame shows expected age-appropriate wear. Small area of damage to interior frame, barely discernible. One frame fastener on the reverse is missing; however the painting remains secure in the frame and the missing fastener does not affect the painting or its value. Please see photographs for condition. See less