The superb Phillips portrait above the mantelpiece is of Helen Lena Ten Broeck (1803-1839) and is inscribed by the artist with her name and the date, 1834. She is seated on a black Federal sofa with brass upholstery tacks, a frequent prop for the artist, and wears a remarkably tactile green velvet dress embroidered with black leaf and vine decoration on her belt and cuffs and which has finely detailed translucent white lace on its collar. She holds a red book, the color of which heightens the visual drama of the work, complementary colors emphasizing each other in opposition. The painting has a deep mahogany colored background, against which the sitter stands out in sharp relief, rhythmically outlined. Her pale face  is luminous beneath the exaggerated  rolls of her hair. The painting is in its original dark green-painted frame with a raised painted yellow edge.
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