called Elizabeth Beale Carter (Mrs. Landon Carter, b. 1711)

This portrait is currently believed to be Elizabeth Beale, the third wife of Landon Carter of Sabine Hall. Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Tavenner Beale of Richmond County. Costume appears to date to ca. 1750 based on portraits by John Hesselius and Robert Feke showing women in similar dresses. It was formerly called Elizabeth Landon (Mrs. Robert Carter, 1683 or 4-1719) or Elizabeth Wormeley (Mrs. Landon Carter, 1711-1740). Landon Carter married first, Elizabeth Wormeley, second, Maria Byrd, and third, Elizabeth Beale.

Dimensions: 46 1/2 x 37 7/8 in. (118.11 x 96.2 cm.)

Subject wears a blue dress with a red underskirt, which is partially visible. She sits in a garden in front of a stone balustrade and next to an urn, which is partially cut off by the frame. A very large tree is behind her, as is a vine of roses. Her right arm holds flowers and ferns in her lap.

See: Carolyn J. Weekely, Painters and Paintings in the Early American South (2013), 255; FARL; MESDA Database, S-4036