Samuel F.B. Morse (American, 1791-1872), c. 1832 The Goldfish Bowl Depicting Mrs. Richard Carey Morse and her two children Elizabeth and Charlotte with a goldfish bowl to the left in a classical interior setting with checkered floor, mounted in a mahogany veneer and gilt frame Unsigned. Oil on canvas. 29 3/4 x 27 7/8 in. Footnotes: Provenance Samuel F.B. Morse. Mrs. Richard Carey Morse, New York. Mrs. Lottie Morse Hodge, Hartford. Mr. Robert C. Hodge. Mr. Robert C. Hodge, Jr. Gilbert Colgate. Mrs. J. Wright Rumbough. In 1832, Richard and Sidney Morse, brothers of the artist, founded the New York Observer, a religious newspaper. During S. F. B. Morse's career, Richard gave him moral and financial support. H. B. Wehle, in his Study of Morse, says that in 1832 when Morse returned from Europe with the principles of the telegraph completed, 'His brothers Sidney and Richard met him at the foot of Rector Street... and, finding his pockets empty of funds and his head full of invention, they supplied him with a place to sleep. During these years after his return, he lived from hand to mouth, fiddling with his invention, with the Academy, and with finishing his European paintings. He took a few pupils and probably painted a few portraits.' It was during this time that the portrait of Richard's wife and daughters was probably painted, possibly out of gratitude for his brother's assistance. Two versions of the portrait are known, as the artist is believed to have made one for each of his two nieces. Lottie Morse, who was five years old when the painting was executed, was later given this version of it by her mother. The other version went to Lottie's sister. The second version of this painting entitled The Goldfish Bowl, is in the collection of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. (H. B. Wehle, Samuel F. B. Morse, American Painter, Occasioned By An Exhibition Of His Paintings, February 16 through March 27, 1932, (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1932), no. 58, illus., and P. J. Staiti and G. A. Reynolds, Samuel F. B. Morse, (New York, 1982), pp. 78-80, fig. 84, illus.) Exhibition This painting was on exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing