Portrait of Charles Bacon (1789-184?)

Date1795

Artist William Jennys (1774-1859)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, Litchfield County (n. 1)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 30 1/4 x 25 3/8in. (76.8 x 64.5cm) and Framed: 33 1/2 x 28 1/2in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1963.100.3

DescriptionA half-length portrait of a young boy, shown standing, his body turned slightly towards the (viewer's) right, his lower arms and hands not shown, and his gaze towards the viewer; feigned spandrels fill the four corners of the composition. He has blue eyes and shoulder-length, strawberry-blonde hair that is cut in short bangs in the front. He wears a white shirt with a wide, ruffled collar; a turquoise-blue, 3-buttoned cutaway coat; and a mustard-yellow waistcoat.

The 2 1/4-inch flat, black-painted frame is a mid-nineteenth-century replacement, its sight edge consisting of a separate, raised, black-painted, flat strip.Label TextCharles Bacon was about six years old when William Jennys depicted him, his parents, and his sister. (See 1963.100.1, 1963.100.2, and 1963.100.4 for the companion likenesses.) Skillful handling and astute presentation of color mark all four of the portraits; in Charles's, the complementary nature of turquoise blue and mustard yellow creates a particularly striking image. The reddish glow of the boy's shiny, strawberry blonde hair provides yet another pleasing color note and also contributes textural interest.

Charles's paternal grandfather, Jabez Bacon (1733-1806), amassed a fortune dealing in pork during the American Revolution, and his parents, Asahal Bacon (1764-1838) and Hannah French Bacon (1765-1833), enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle in Roxbury, Connecticut. Their house still stands in the town. In 1811, Charles married Betsey Tomlinson.

Inscription(s)None found, but see 1963.100.2.ProvenanceAll four companion portraits (1963.100.1, 1963.100.2, 1963.100.3, and 1963.100.4) descended in the family of the subject of the fourth portrait, Mary Ann Bacon Wittlesey (Mrs. Chauncey Whittlesey); to Elizabeth Whittlesey Preston (Mrs. Bennett Sheldon Preston); to her son, Edward Whittlesey Preston; to his son, Bennett Preston of Bridgeport, Conn; sold by the preceding to dealer Mary Allis of Fairfield, Conn., who was CWF's source.