Description:
man; costume/uniform; interior; political event/figure
Label Text:
This formal portrait presents an unidentified British man in the black silk robes of a Master of Chancery, a legal official within England’s court system. He holds a rolled document under his arm that reads:
An Act to restrain [the] /Trade of Massach[usetts]/ Rhode island Con[necticut]/Virginia South Ca[rolina]/North America.
The document probably refers to a 1775 British Parliamentary act designed to restrict trading and fishing practices among the American colonists because of their subversive activities.
Ralph Earl was born in Massachusetts and established himself as an artist in New Haven, Connecticut. A Loyalist supporter of the British crown, he escaped to England in 1778. This painting reflects his admiration for the portraiture of another American expatriate, John Singleton Copley, who ultimately settled in England (his portrait of John Erving hangs nearby).
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1956.52 |
