COLONEL SAMUEL PRIOLEAU

The earliest pictures in the MESDA’s collection—and the earliest known works by a female artist in America—are by Henrietta Johnston  who helped supplement her family's income with her work as a portraitist. Most of her Charleston portraits are of members of the city’s French Huguenot population, many of whom were members of St. Philip's Church where her husband was minister. Colonel Samuel Prioleau (one of three Johnston portraits owned by MESDA) was a silversmith, jeweler, merchant, and planter. Typical of her images of men, Colonel Prioleau (c. 1690-1752) is shown bust-length, with particular attention to the expressive character of the eyes and the thick curls of the wig. Johnston’s delicate work in pastels created ethereal, enchanting images that seem to suggest a delicateness to life in Charleston at a time, only a few decades after its founding, that seems to belie what was still a harsh and difficult place.