biography of William DERING (XVIII)

Addresses: Phila., 1735-c.40; Williamsburg, VA, c.1740-49; Charleston, SC, 1749-?

Profession: Portrait painter, dancing teacher

Work: Colonial Williamsburg (VA) Foundation

Comments: Nothing is known of him prior to his appearance at Philadelphia in 1735 when he advertised as a dancing master. He opened a dance school and later advised he would also teach reading, writing, sewing and French. By 1740 he had moved to Williamsburg (VA), where he again taught dancing in the newest French Manner"and organized balls and galas. Sometime in the 1740s he took up portrait painting. A signed portrait of "Mrs Drury Stith" dating from c. 1745 has been the stylistic basis for attributing about eleven portraits to him, including the most well-known, "George Booth" (c. 1745), an ambitious full-length portrait showing a well-dressed young man standing in a fashionable pose between two pedestals, atop of which sit two sculptural portrait busts, the clothes and sculpture providing evidence of the family's prosperity. Dering reportedly had a collection of two hundred prints which he used in helping patrons decide how they wanted their portrait to look. By December, 1749, Dering had moved to Charleston (SC) where it appears he stopped painting and again concentrated on providing dance lessons and arranging musical assemblies. He was still in that city in 1751 and may have died around that time (see Craven), but there is speculation that he may have been there as late as 1764 (see Weekley). Also appears as William Deering.

Sources: Graham Hood, Charles Bridges and William Dering: Two Virginia Painters, 1735-1750 (Williamsburg, VA, 1978); Caroline Weekley, "Further Notes on William Dering, Colonial Virginia Portrait Painter," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts vol. 1, no. 1 (May 1975): 21-28; Craven, Colonial American Portraiture, 364-366; Saunders and Miles, 24, 164 (repro.)"