Portrait of Abigaill Franks (1696–1756).

Gerardus Duyckinck I

1735

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Portrait painting of woman in dress sitting with her hands in lap. — Born in London, as a young girl Abigaill Levy immigrated with her parents to New York City. In 1712, she married Jacob Franks, with whom she would have nine children. Despite his Ashkenazic family background, they were welcomed as honored members at New York’s Sephardic synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel. The thirty-five letters that survive from her correspondence with her son Naphtali in England, written between 1733 and 1748, are the earliest surviving letters of a Jewish woman from the New World, and one of the few autobiographical pieces written by a woman from this period.

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Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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Creator Bio

Gerardus Duyckinck I

1695–1746

Gerardus Duyckinck I was a member of a family of Dutch artisans who emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1635. In addition to painting, his crafts included painting, limning, and glasswork. He specialized in portraits of well-to-do families. He also painted biblical scenes. His 1716 The Birth of the Virgin is the earliest dated and signed painting from New York.