The following description has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts S. Fastov, Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans & Kenyon

Note 1) See the following photographs for other authentic Theus portraits of women, manifesting similar poses, formulaic facial characteristics and technique, e.g.: a relatively narrow, stiff, somewhat elongated and straight upper body, unduly elongated and large and prominent nose, somewhat elongated neck, somewhat elongated oval face, somewhat large pupils of the eyes, which often are almost bulging. All have open bodices showing the skin of their chest, but all with suppressed breasts. All are ½ length portraits of women, which all end somewhat severely at the waistline, who appear to have been posed sitting in a chair, but no part of the chair is ever visible.

Mrs. John Dart, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Elizabeth Rothmahler, Brooklyn Museum of Art

Elizabeth Savage Branford, Gibbes Museum of Art

Mrs. James Skirving (Sarah Vinson), Gibbes Museum of Art

Mrs. Martha Vinson, Gibbes Museum of Art

Mrs. Rawlins Lowndes (Sarah Jones) (1756/57-1801), North Carolina Museum of Art

Polly Ouldfield of Winyah, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Note 2): The following biographical sketch of Theus is presented in Askart.com:

“Born in Chur, Switzerland, Jeremiah Theus became the most important artist of the colonial era in Charleston, South Carolina, and most of his paintings remain there and in Savannah, Georgia. He had little competition and was a favorite of the more prominent plantation and merchant families.

His early training is unknown. He and his parents emigrated to Orangeburg Township, South Carolina about 1735. In 1740, he advertised in Charleston as a limner of portraits, “landskips,” and crests for coaches. He was immediately successful, and became the regions' most established artist, painting about 150 portraits.

For 30 years, he traveled a radius of about 100 miles from his Charleston studio to paint subjects in the Carolinas and Georgia. His figures are adequate but to some critics appear quite stiff with features that tend to be similar in each portrait.

In 1744, he opened an evening drawing school for men and women. He prospered, had a comfortable home, and owned seven slaves.

Sources include:

Michael David Zellman, 300 Years of American Art

Peter Hastings Falk, Editor, Who Was Who in American Art (Emphasis and bold face added).”

Note 3) Relatively few Theus portraits remain in private hands and are available for purchase. It is not unreasonable to assume that a number of the owners may not know that the portraits are by Theus, as apparently he rarely, if ever, signed a portrait. It is also reasonably certain that some of his portraits have either been lost or destroyed during the 238 years since Theus death in 1774. Of the approximately 150 portraits that Theus is believed to have painted, 18 museums own portraits by Theus, some of which own 2 or more Theus portraits. Such 18 museums include: Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI (3 portraits), Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Philadelphia Museum of Art, both of Philadelphia, PA, Metropolitan Museum of Art (4 portraits), New-York Historical Society (2 portraits) and Brooklyn Museum of Art, all of NYC, NY, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (3 portraits), National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian Museum of American Art, both of Washington, D.C., Charleston Museum, Charleston, SC (2 portraits), Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC (2 portraits), Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC (20 portraits), Hammond-Harwood House, Annapolis, Maryland (4 Portraits), and Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, NC (2 portraits), City Art Gallery, Bristol, England (2 portraits), San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, Minneapolis

Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, Telfair Museum, Savannah, GA, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.

Note 4) Theus was the leading and best, and, almost certainly the only portrait painter of note in the deep South in the mid-18^th Century. Based on the above observations and the fact that Askart.com has only 8 reported attempted Theus auction sales, starting in 2001, there is clearly a scarcity of known Theus portraits in private hands, that are available for purchase at auction. None of the above Theus portraits of women were painted by Theus to create an impression that the subject of the portrait was a “drop-dead beauty,” unlike portrait artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, an English contemporary of Theus, who portrayed many as women of true beauty. All of these Theus women look like somewhat Spartan, no-nonsense American colonial types, and some are clearly lacking in beauty. This is also true of the 4 female portraits sold at auction set forth below. Thus, the Theus portrait being offered at auction is not a beauty, but rather, a reasonably attractive female, at least for a Theus female portrait, as a result of some of the Theus' painting formulaic characteristics described above and other characteristics not cited above. But for the Theus formulaic long and prominent nose of this auction portrait, the woman depicted in this Theus portrait could have approached true beauty. Only 6 Theus portraits have been sold at auction since 2001, per Askart.com, including those of 4 females, and 2 men, and which is the year, in which Askart.com apparently received or otherwise discovered the first Theus sale for reporting in Askart.com's auction records. The following 4 Theus auction sales of female portraits also manifest all of the above-described Theus formulaic painting characteristics, which prelude his rendering a true beauty in his female portraits (although the Deas portrait below is attractive), as represented above with regard to the Theus portrait being offered at auction and the above Theus portraits owned by 18 museums. The foregoing considerations, together with the sales prices obtained for these 4 portraits, readily justify the reasonableness of the above estimate of $70,000-110,000 for the comparatively relatively attractive Theus female portrait, which is being offered at this auction. Collectors of Theus 18^th century American portraits and art, South Carolina and other Southern states' historical portraits, paintings or memorabilia should give serious consideration to bidding on this scarce, relatively rare opportunity to bid aggressively on and acquire this very fine, typical Theus portrait of a relatively attractive female, which is in very good condition.

Title/Subject: Elizabeth Allen Deas (1742-1802), marriage portrait at the age of sixteen Unsigned. Oil on canvas. 30.13 in. x 25.25 in. sold for $123,900 on 05/12/2012-05/13/2012 at Brunk Auctions, Ashville, NC

Title/Subject: “Amarinthia Elliott” Unsigned Oil on canvas. 15.75 in. x 13.60 in. sold for $80,000 on 03/29/2010 a Brunk Auctions, Ashville, NC

Title/Subject: Portrait of a lady with pearls and pearl pendant Unsigned Oil on canvas. 30 in. x 24.50 in. sold for $57,000 on 01/19/2007-01/21/2007 at Sotheby’s, NY

Title/Subject: Portrait of a Young Southern Woman Unsigned Oil on canvas. 29 in. x 23.50 in. sold for $70,000 on 11/18/2006-11/19/2006 at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, ME