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Freake Painter
( fl Boston, 1670–c. 1680). American painter. He is sometimes incorrectly known as ‘The Freake Limner’, a term restricted in the 17th century to painters of miniatures, which he is not known to have produced. A group of eight portraits painted in oil on canvas in or near Boston between 1670 and 1678 appear to have been made by the same hand. They represent John Freake (n.d.; Worcester, MA, A. Mus.), Mrs John (Elizabeth) Freake and her Baby, Mary (1670; Worcester, MA, A. Mus.), Henry Gibbs (1670; Charleston, WV, Sunrise Mus.), Margaret Gibbs (1670; Boston, MA, Mus. F.A.), Robert Gibbs (1670; Boston, MA, Mus. F.A.), the Mason Children (1670; San Francisco, CA, de Young Mem. Mus.), Edward Rawson (Boston, MA, New England Hist. Geneal. Soc.) and the Rev. John Davenport (New Haven, CT, Yale U. A.G.). Six of these paintings bear the date 1670 lettered in a similar manner. All are stylistically and structurally related; they form the largest (and among the most sophisticated) group of portraits made by the same artist or studio/shop in 17th-century New England. All of these paintings, which represent sitters slightly smaller than life, are characterized by precise delineation of features similar to that found in 16th-century English portraiture. The most famous portrait of this group, Elizabeth Freake and her Baby (see fig.), is enhanced by a brilliant range of colours. Vermilion and lead–tin yellow are found in the dress, coral beads and ribbons; lead white in the caps, lace and aprons. Mrs Freake is seated on a chair bearing Turkey work upholstery and is holding a six-month-old child. The portrait of the child was added in 1674, four years after the painting was first made. Previously Mrs Freake had been represented with hands in her lap holding a fan; her collar and ribbons were also substantially different. The portrait of the Boston merchant John Freake (Elizabeth’s husband) is the pendant to this. Carefully wrought details such as the almond-shaped eyes and linear, pursed lips are characteristic of the artist’s work. His imagery is spatially flat but not lacking in subtle shading.
Part of the Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists family
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