Description:

Miniature Portrait of Dr. Octavius Undecimus Trezevant (1810-1866) of Charleston, SC and New Orleans, LA, mid-19th c., watercolor and gouache, sight 4 1/2 in. x 3 1/2 in., case 6 in. x 5 in.; accompanied by 2 letters from Edith Booth dated September 1934 and August 1937 to "Madame" with a Hailsham Sussex address. Note: One of thirteen children, Octavius Trezevant was born in Scotland to Peter and Elizabeth Willoughby Trezevant in 1810. He married Maria Dorothea D’Argain y Belgrano, a Spanish woman born in Buenos Aires, in London in 1841. The couple had seven children by 1855; between 1855 and 1860 the family moved, along with at least two of Octavius’ brothers, to the United States. While his brothers settled in South Carolina, Octavius and his family moved to New Orleans, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Octavius had become a physician while in Scotland and continued practicing in New Orleans until his death in 1865. The Daily Constitutionalist of Augusta, GA, reported Dr. Trezevant’s death on November 4, 1865. A fatal knife wound was the cause of his death, and a full account of the incident is reported in James G. Hollandsworth, Jr.’s book, An Absolute Massacre: The New Orleans Race Riots of July 30, 1866. In the two letters that accompany this painting, Edith Booth references the Trezevant miniatures, which she acquired through the Estate of Theodore Matthias’ eldest son, Charles Edward. In both letters, she discusses the shipping arrangements to send to the miniatures to the United States. Ref.: Trezevant, John Timothée. The Trezevant Family in the United States. Colombia, SC: The State Company, 1914. United States 1860 Federal Census.

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November 18, 2017 10:00 AM CST
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