Collections record Beta
Collection Record Detail
Object Name
Oil Painting - David Smith
Object Number
2018-13-1
Description
Oil on canvas portrait of Major General David Smith. Rectangular 1/4 length portrait, sitter facing left. Middle-aged man, heavier set, with blue eyes and white powdered wig. Wears a dark blue coat with light-yellow facings, gold lace epaulets on each shoulder, gold buttons down left breast, and red-orange sash extended from left shoulder to waist; white ruffled shirt underneath. Set against plain background of greens and blues. Portrait is framed in gilt wood frame with gesso decoration.
Provenance
See 2018-12-2 for companion portrait of Ruth Hitchcock Smith. David and Ruth Smith lived in Plymouth, CT. Major General Smith served as an officer during the Revolutionary War, possibly as a member of Washington's staff. The two eventually settled in Litchfield in 1810, where two of their sons attended the Law School. Family history holds that the portraits were painted in Plymouth after the war. The donor is a descendant of the Smiths through their granddaughter, Amanda Lucinda Smith.
Comment
Attributed to Captain Simon Fitch of Lebanon, CT. Fitch studied under schoolmaster Nathan Tisdale at the Lebanon Academy, alongside famed artist Jonathan Trumbull. He served as a captain in the local militia during the Revolutionary War. He painted mostly in New London County but traveled for commissions; advertised his services in the Connecticut Journal as early as 1796.
Category
Maker
Date Made
1790-1800
Dimensions
Overall height 39.25", overall width 33.5", overall depth 2.5"; work 25.75" w, 31.25"h
Social Tags (experimental)
