Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
General Lafayette at the Anniversary of the Battle of York Town, Oct. 19, 1824 |
Object Number |
M.1991.011.14 |
Object Type |
Painting, Miniature |
Artist/Creator |
Birch, William Russell (1755-1834) |
Date |
ca. 1824 |
Place of Origin |
United States of America |
Description |
Bust-length, enamel-on-copper portrait miniature of Marie-Joseph Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), a major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and an original member of the Société des Cincinnati de France, by William Russell Birch (1755-1834) after Ary Scheffer (1795-1858), ca. 1824. The sitter is off-center to the proper left. He is angled and looking toward the proper right. He has brown hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. He wears a tan overcoat with wide lapels and collar, a dark blue coat, a brown waistcoat, and a white shirt with a tall collar. A battle scene, presumably of the Siege of Yorktown, is visible in the lower left background, with two soldiers on horseback in front of columns of troops next to a shoreline, with ships in the water. Part of an American flag is visible in the right background, over the sitter's proper left shoulder. Dark clouds cover most of the background, with blue sky visible in several spots. In a rectangular black wood frame with a beaded brass liner. Inscribed on the back in brown ink: "Gen. Lafayette, as at the annaversary of the Battle of York Town. Oct. 19th 1824. by W. Birch from A. Scheffer." |
Materials |
Enamel/Copper/Wood/Brass |
Dimensions |
4 3/4" h x 4 1/2" w x 11/16" d (framed) |
Credit Line |
Gift of the Friends of the Boush-Tazewell House, Inc., 1991 |