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Thomas Paine
John Wesley Jarvisc. 1806/1807
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States
Details
- Title: Thomas Paine
- Creator: John Wesley Jarvis
- Date Created: c. 1806/1807
- Physical Dimensions: overall: 65.4 x 52.1 cm (25 3/4 x 20 1/2 in.)
- Provenance: Christopher C. Yates [d. 1848], New York and Albany, by 1836.[1] James Ferguson [d. 1867], Albany and Washington, D.C., by 1860.[2] His wife, Amelia Ferguson, Washington, D.C. Horatio Bridge [d. 1893], Washington, D.C., and Athens, Pennsylvania, probably by 1868;[3] his wife, Charlotte M. Bridge [d. 1904], Athens, Pennsylvania; her grandniece, Marian Bridge Maurice, Athens, Pennsylvania;[4] gift 1950 to NGA. [1] A paper label formerly affixed to the reverse of the original canvas, dated "New York Augt. 1836.," signed by "J.W. Jarvis" and "Chas. Jarvis.," and apparently in the latter's handwriting, reads: "This certifies that the portrait of the late Thomas Paine, author of the `Rights of Man' & now in the possession of Doctor Yates in this city, was painted by me ["from" crossed out] about the year 1805, and is the only original portrait of that gentleman executed in America." Harold E. Dickson, "The Jarvis Portrait of Thomas Paine,", _New-York Historical Society Quarterly_ 34 (January 1950): 8, notes that the looped signature used by John Wesley Jarvis in his later years is consistent with this example. He accounts for Charles Wesley Jarvis' signature and role in writing the authentication with the observation that the elder Jarvis had suffered an incapacitating stroke two years earlier. His son saw to his affairs during this late period. [2] The catalogue for the Washington Art Association Annual in 1860 lists the owner of the Jarvis portrait of Paine as "Prof. Fergerson" [sic]. [3] Amelia Ferguson, in a letter dated 30 November 1868 and sent to "Mrs. Bridge" (in NGA curatorial files), authorized the latter "to sell the portrait of Thomas Paine Esqr for any sum over $30." Bridge's husband apparently purchased the portrait instead of selling it. An unsigned, handwritten scrap of paper of uncertain provenance, sent to the NGA curatorial files in 1972 from the archives of the University of Pennsylvania, copies the inscription (see n. 1, above) and continues: "The above portrait was purchased by the late Horatio Bridge U.S.N. in Washington, D.C. about 1860 and was left by his widow to her grand niece Marian Bridge Maurice Feb. 22nd 1904 [illegible] now in her house in Athens, Penna. March 25, 1905." [4] Letter of 11 February 1953 from Margaret Stewart Maurice (in NGA curatorial files) provides provenance information within the Bridge and Maurice families. See also the wills of Horatio and Charlotte M. Bridge, nos. 5416 and 7470, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
- Rights: CC0
- Medium: oil on canvas
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