Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Montgomery Bird.
Painted by Dr. Bird's wife, Mary Mayer Bird, this portrait shows the influence of Thomas Sully, with whom she studied painting and portraiture.
41. Mary Mayer Bird. Watercolor, untitled, undated, and unsigned.
Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Montgomery Bird.
42-45. Four small portraits of Dr. Bird.
42. Self-portrait, ca. 1828. Watercolor sketch, untitled, undated, and unsigned.
43. Self-portrait. Untitled, undated, and unsigned. (Not illustrated.)44. Self-portrait in profile, cut out and mounted on a black background. Untitled, undated, and unsigned. (Not illustrated.)
45. Oval miniature self-portrait, untitled, undated, and unsigned. (Not illustrated.)
Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Montgomery Bird.
Four works are shown in close proximity, dated 1822 (or 1823) or alternatively 1826 (nos. 46-48 [Case 9] and no. 49 [Case 10]). Robert Montgomery Bird painted them either two years before he entered Penn or while he was a medical student here. Perhaps still in his late teens, he was surely not yet twenty-one. The paintings depict scenes from his birthplace, New Castle, Delaware.
46. ["Old Church, New Castle, Delaware."] 1822? 1826? Watercolor, untitled, undated, and unsigned. (Not illustrated.)
Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Montgomery Bird.
47. ["Market House, New Castle, Delaware."] 1822? 1826? Watercolor, untitled, undated, and unsigned.
Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Montgomery Bird.
48. ["Tile House, New Castle, Delaware."] 1822? 1826? Watercolor, untitled, undated, and unsigned.
Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Montgomery Bird.
Last update 22 April 1996.
