Mrs. Branford is said to have come from Bermuda and has traditionally been identified as a revolutionary era heroine. Fraser's miniature is a copy of an oil by Jeremiah Theus (1716—1774), painted probably about 1755. Fraser himself owned a portrait of an ancestor by Theus, about which he stated ". . . independently of its claim as a family portrait of 1750, I value for its excellence." Some of Theus' characteristic harshness has been softened by the transferral to watercolor on ivory, although the stippling is quite pronounced. In 1845 Fraser recorded, "copy of Mrs. Branford, for Mr. Horry . . . $40."
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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