Mary Robinson Purdie (Mrs. George Purdie, d. 1808)

Mary Robinson Purdie was the wife of George Purdie, a Smithfield merchant. She was the daughter of Major Anthony Robinson and Diana Starkey Robinson. The portrait was likely painted in Smithfield or Williamsburg. The portrait is tentatively attributed to John Durand, although Durand was not previously recorded in Virginia before 1769.

Dimensions: 32 x 26 in. (81.3 x 66 cm.)

The subject wears a blue sack-back dress. She wears a six strand necklace with a pendant tied behind her neck with a ribbon. She also wears large earrings and a floral hairpiece. A black and orange bird are perched on her left hand while her right hand offers it a cluster of grapes to eat.

See: Colonial Williamsburg eMuseum