The eldest child of Ralph and Alice DeLancey lzard, Margaret (1768-1824) was born in Charleston but spent much of her childhood in England and France with her parents. In 1783, Margaret married Charleston's noted gentleman-amateur architect, Gabriel Manigault (1758-1809), son of Peter and Elizabeth Wragg Manigault. They lived in Charleston and at his plantation, The Oaks, in St. James, Goose Creek Parish. In 1805, they moved to Clifton, an estate near Philadelphia, where Gabriel Manigault died in 1809. After his death Margaret spent much of her time at her house in Philadelphia on Spruce Street near that of her brothers Colonel George lzard and Ralph lzard, Jr., her sister Mrs. William Alien Deas (Anne lzard), and her mother whose house was "between Ninth and Tenth streets." The area was known as "Carolina Row."
Meyer, a native of Germany, studied in London and attained the position of miniature portrait painter to the queen and painter in enamel to the king in 1764. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy where he exhibited from 1764 to 1783. Meyer's miniatures are characterized by light colors and extraordinary detail.
Two other portraits of Margaret Manigault are known to exist, one by Gilbert Stuart painted in 1794 along with that of her husband (Albright-Knox Museum, Buffalo), and a miniature by Edward Malbone dated 1801 (Gibbes Museum of Art).
Notes:
This text is adapted from Martha Severens "The Miniature Portrait Collection of the Carolina Art Association" published by the Carolina Art Association, 1984
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