Welcome Home, Burleighs!
Thank you very much. We did it! With the help of chili and cookie bakers, chili and cookie buyers, baubles sales, and numerous donations, as well as two very generous matching donations, we raised the $2,700 needed to have the painting restored. Thank you all very much.
The Sanbornton Public Library raised funds to restore our 36” by 30” portrait of the Alfred Burleigh family, of Sanbornton, painted in 1862 by Walter Ingalls, a prominent and prolific Sanbornton painter.
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
- Clean dirt and varnish layers.
- Repair the canvas.
- Apply isolating varnish layer, fill lost paint, and retouch as needed.
- Repair the frame and the stretcher.
- Restore the original bright colors and preserve the painting, so that it will be ready to display in the library again.
Martha Cox, of Great Works Restoration in Shapleigh, Maine, repaired and restored the painting and frame. A Professional Associate of the American Institute of Conservation, Cox has over 25 years of experience preserving and restoring fine art oil paintings. Martha, shown above, picked up the painting on Wednesday, January 3, 2019.
– ABOUT THE BURLEIGH FAMILY: Alfred Burleigh (1816-1878) was a farmer and a stonecutter, and a member of one of Sanbornton’s earliest families. His wife, Emeline (1822-1901), was the daughter of Col. Daniel Sanborn and Harriet Ladd Sanborn. Col. Sanborn commanded a regiment of the NH State Militia; taught school in Sanbornton and Gilmanton; and was a member of the Congregational Church for 44 years. Alfred and Emeline Burleigh had three children: Addie and Walter—who died as infants—and George (1860-1945), who is depicted in the family portrait.
– ABOUT WALTER INGALLS & HIS WORK: Walter Ingalls (1805-1874) was an accomplished portrait painter who lived in Sanbornton for much of his life. An extensive traveler, he had a wide range of patrons and was given many commissions both in this country and abroad. Besides painting portraits of his Sanbornton neighbors and friends, Ingalls painted a highly regarded portrait of Pope Pius IX during several sittings in Rome; during three years in Brazil a portrait of Don Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, and more than 50 portraits as well as still life paintings of Fruits of the Valley of the Amazon; numerous prominent officials in Washington, D.C.; and a portrait of George Washington which is on exhibit in the New Hampshire State House. He also served as Sanbornton’s Town Moderator and as a State Representative. Ingalls’ father, Jesse, was one of the founders of the Woodman-Sanbornton Academy (now home to the Sanbornton Public Library).
THANK YOU!