Pair of Portraits of a Lady and a Gentleman: Possibly Martha [Coggswell] and Franklin Colburn

This pair relates stylistically to a set of family portraits attributed to John S. Blunt, Captain Amasa Wood and Family, (Nina Fletcher Little, Little By Little (New York, 1984), p. 115, fig. 151). The present examples share certain features with the Wood family portraits including "celery leaf" foliage in the background and a high level of detail to the hair and clothing of the sitters.

The sitters of these portraits may be Martha [Coggswell] Colburn (b. 1808) and her husband, Franklin Colburn (1801-1870) of Concord, Massachusetts. Marth Colburn was the daughter of James and Sarah [Roby] Coggswell. Franklin Colburn, a carpenter, was the son of Elisha and Deborah [Hunt] Colburn. Martha and Franklin Colburn married on April 26, 1827. Their only child, Franklin, died in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1828 at seven months of age.