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Portrait of Henry Laurens Roberts

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Made by: Joseph H. Davis (American, 1811–1865)
Date: about 1835
Held by: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Collection: M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Watercolors and Drawings, 1800–1875
Number: 60.869 (Karolik cat. no. 1110)
Materials: graphite, watercolor, paper
Size: Sheet: 20.5 x 18.6 cm (8 1/16 x 7 5/16 in.)
Themes: Hooked & handmade rugs

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Cite this source

Joseph H. Davis (American, 1811–1865). “Portrait of Henry Laurens Roberts,” about 1835. 60.869 (Karolik cat. no. 1110), M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Watercolors and Drawings, 1800–1875, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. collections.mfa.org/objects/258811.

Research notes

Watercolor portrait. MFA description: "Small boy standing, profile to right. Bird on finger of left hand, cap in right; amother bird on flowering plant in pot right. Three braided rugs on floor." Inscription: "Henry Laurens Roberts. Born Octbr 18th / 1831. Painted at the age of 4 years." (so about 1835-36). A companion Davis portrait at the MFA, "Portrait of Elizabeth A. Fall" (60.870, inscribed "Aged 21 years. 1835"), is described with "Floor pattern of braided rug motifs." Why it matters: Processes, open question "a museum-dated braided rug before 1860": not a surviving rug, but a museum-catalogued, inscription-dated (1835) depiction of braided rugs on a New England floor, well before 1860. Found: MFA Boston collections search, "braided rug", 2026-10-28. Image note 2026-10-28 (Claude in Chrome): the museum has an online photograph (see Image page), but its server blocks the image from showing on other sites, so no image link is set.