Recent Acquisitions

John Singleton Copley. American, 1738–1815
St. Cecilia, a portrait (Mrs. Richard Crowninshield Derby), 1803
oil on canvas
Partial and promised gift of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III

The Mint Museum has acquired an early 19th century portrait by John Singleton Copley, one of the greatest and most influential painters in colonial America. St. Cecilia, a Portrait (Mrs. Richard Crowninshield Derby) (1803) is the first painting by Copley to enter the Mint’s collection. The painting and its original period frame were donated by longtime Museum supporters Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III of Wilmington, N.C.

St. Cecilia, a Portrait portrays Martha Crowninshield Derby, an American expatriate living in London, as Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Surrounded by luxurious furnishings and wearing a fashionable empire-waist dress, Mrs. Derby demonstrates her musical talents by playing a harp—an instrument chosen to echo her graceful figure and emphasize her slender fingers—as she is gazed upon by adoring cherubs. Copley likely created this work in response to earlier versions of women posed as St. Cecilia by his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds.

See other recent acquisitions to the museum's permanent collection below:

Contemporary Collection	Craft + Design Collection	American Art Collection

Ryan O'Malley. American, 1979- Mask, 2005 mezzotint Museum Purchase: Funds provided by Jay Everette	Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye. Danish, 1938- Large Turquoise Vessel, 2008 stoneware Museum Purchase: Exchange funds from the gifts of Halsey and Alice North, Mary and Paul Brandwein, Mrs. Theodore W. Eselgroth, Stella Thurston, Stuart C. Schwartz, Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III and Warner L. Overton	Augusta Savage. American, 1892-1962 Gamin, circa 1930 cast and painted plaster Museum purchase with funds provided by the Mint Museum Auxiliary.

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