Description:
Framed oil portrait of Dr. David Townsend (1753-1829) of Boston, who served as a surgeon-general of the hospital department during the American Revolution and later practiced medicine in Boston. Wearing a white cravat and black coat, Townsend is shown with his own white hair and ruddy complexion, staring directly at the viewer. A typewritten note on the back reads: "David Townsend, Jan 7, 1753-Apr. 13, 1829. Surgeon in Revolutionary Army and Charter Member of the Society of Cincinnati. Eldest son of Shippie Townsend and Ann Balch. Married May 24, 1785 Elizabeth Davis. Sept. 14, 1758-Aug. 14 1833. Daughter of Solomon Davis and Elizabeth Wendell. Portrait by Alexander." Together with his close friend Dr. William Eustis, Townsend was a charter member of the Society of the Cincinnati, a fraternal group founded in 1783 by American military officers and French officers who had aided the American cause. Townsend later became a member of the Standing Committee of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati (1786-1807), Secretary (1807-1821, VP (1821-1825), and President (1825-1929). Townsend was one of nine men to whom Samuel Shaw (1754-1794) gave a Chinese export porcelain teaset (HD 56.105) decorated with the Society of Cincinnati emblems. HD also has his Society diploma (HD 56.105A), letter (HD 56.105B) from Shaw to Townsend sent with the teaset, and his son's, David S. Townsend (1790-1853), Society booklet (HD 56.105C). Alexander was probably Francis Alexander (1800-1880), a portrait artist who was born in Killingly, Connecticut, briefly studied in NYC, and returned to Connecticut where he painted many portraits, two of which were sent to Providence, RI. He worked in Providence from 1823-1824 where his paintings were very popular, and was in Boston by 1825 where he painted such famous men such as Noah Webster and President Andrew Jackson, and prominent Bostonians between 1825 and 1831. Alexander spent time in Italy from 1831 to 1833, continuing his success upon his return to Boston; he was made an honorary member of the National Academy of Design in 1840 and painted Charles Dickens during the author's American tour in 1842. When his commissions began to decline In the later 1840s and 1850s and for other family reasons, Alexander and his family left for Europe in 1853; except for a brief visit to America in 1868-1869, the rest of their lives were spent in Italy where he died in Florence.
Tags:
portraits Link to share this object record:
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