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Portrait 2018.100.7
Portrait of Henry Knickerbacker (1833-1897)
Portrait 2018.100.7

Portrait of Henry Knickerbacker (1833-1897)

Dateabout 1835
OriginAmerica, New York, Rensselaer County, Schaghticoke
MediumOil on tulip poplar panel
DimensionsFramed: 31" H x 26 3/4" W; unframed: 26 1/2" H x 21 1/2" W
Credit LineGift of Catharine and Kevin Broderick
Object number2018.100.7,A&B
DescriptionPortrait of a young boy in blue holding a riding whip.Label TextThis charming portrait, along with two companion paintings of the subject's parents, resided in the Knickerbocker mansion at Schaghticoke, New York, from the time of their execution around 1835 until the house was sold out of the family nearly a century later. The painting and several ancestral objects were purchased by a collateral descendant, remaining in family hands until recently.

The likeness depicts Henry Knickerbacker, the youngest child of Abraham and Mary Hale Knickerbacker. The image of the young toddler has often been confused with that of his older step-brother Joseph Foster Knickerbacker, but details in costume refute the subject's identity as the latter.

Although Henry inherited the family mansion in Schaghticoke, New York, he did not live there. After his marriage to Helen Blood, he worked in his father-in-law's tool manufactory in Saratoga County before moving to New York City where he had a successful career on Wall Street.Inscription(s)In blue ballpoint ink, modern hand on the upper frame member, reverse: "From Knickerbacker Mansion at Schaghticoke."ProvenanceSee object file. Descended in the Knickerbocker family until its recent purchase by CW"s source.