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Benjamin Trott
American, about 1770 – about 1841
Portrait of Robert Wickliffe (1774 – 1859), about 1805
Watercolor on ivory
3 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (8.9 x 6.7 cm.)
From the Noe Collection, Gift of Bob and Norma Noe, Lancaster, Kentucky 2011.9.4
A Wedding Present?
The inherent intimacy of portrait miniatures meant they were often commissioned to mark personal moments in an individual’s life. This miniature may have been a gift to Robert Wickliffe’s first wife, Margaret Howard Preston, around the time of their marriage in 1805. Wickliffe was indisputably one of the movers and shakers of Lexington and central Kentucky. A successful attorney, politician, and landowner, Wickliffe was also a vocal pro-slavery advocate with one of the largest slaveholdings in the state.
