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Table of Contents > Revolutionary War > Lot 102 |
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Browse the Auction in Groups of 25 Lots: |
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Lot Number: 102
Click for a Printable PageSign-in to Bid or Register to Bid Estimate Range: $8,000 - $12,000 |
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Handsome Portrait Miniature of Commander John Paul Jones a.k.a. "Father of the American Navy" by George Bagby Matthews after Charles Willson Peale’s 1781 Life Portrait |
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Miniature Portrait of JOHN PAUL JONES (1741-1792), after Charles Willson Peale’s original Portrait from Life (1781), by artist George Bagby Matthews (1857-1943), of America's first most famous Navy Commander and hero best known for this reply for his surrender: “I have not yet begun to fight”, shown wearing his Revolutionary War Continental Navy Commanding Officer’s Uniform and wearing his French “Cross of Military Merit”, Framed, Choice Extremely Fine. This quality Painted Miniature Portrait is Oval, measuring about 2.75” high x 2.25” wide, impressively painted on a white natural substance. The miniature shows JOHN PAUL JONES (1741-1792) as officer of the Continental Navy, chest-up. His portrait shows Jones facing to the right in his colorful uniform. It has excellent sharp detail in vivid original colors. The Portrait is housed in a black painted period wood frame measuring 5.25" high x 4" wide having an inner Brass Oval Surround displayed under protective glass. Charles Willson Peale painted Jones's original oval portrait from life, which was then displayed it in his gallery in 1781. That original painting is part of the large Peale Collection, currently held at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.This currently offered Miniature Portrait shows the influence of Peale as painted by a well collected and known later artist, George Bagby Matthews (1857-1943) who, in 1890, painted a full-scale Portrait of Jones that is now in the Collection of the United States Senate. As in the original Oval Portrait by Peale, here Jones is shown wearing his French “Cross of the Institution of Military Merit,” being the medal shown hanging from a deep blue silk ribbon through his top buttonhole. King Louis XVI of France presented this important military medal to Jones in 1780. Early in the following year Jones returned to Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress confirmed his acceptance of that prestigious French decoration. This is the only Portrait Miniature of Commander John Paul Jones known to us. Provenance: From the Collection of Charles R. Smith, senior historian and branch head of the Marine Corps' History and Museums Division; our current consignor. The sailor John Paul (1741-1792) was born in Scotland but fled to America in 1775, after two of his crew members died under his command of trading vessels. In Philadelphia, he added the surname “Jones” and sought Command of Continental Navy ships in raids against the British. In 1776, he was given Command of an old French merchant ship which he renamed the “Bonhomme Richard” after Benjamin Franklin's nom de plume "Poor Richard". That ship's battle against the larger British Warship HMS Serapis, became one of the Navy's most celebrated victories of the American Revolution, revered to this very day with, “I have not yet begun to fight”, famously spoken by John Paul Jones during the Bonhomme Richard’s historic Naval battle with HMS Serapis in September 1779. John Paul Jones and his exploits provided Peale with material for an additional museum endeavor. In 1786, Peale made the “Gallant Action of Paul Jones in Taking the Serapis” the topic of a large oil painting for his exhibition. Whereas George Bagby Matthews’ larger full size 3/4 Length Painted Portrait of John Paul Jones (also based on Charles Willson Peale's 1781 portrait), is in the Collection of the United States Senate. The original oval painting by Peale is displayed in the Collection at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. In that painting, Jones is shown wearing his French Order of Military Merit, presented to him by Louis XVI in 1780. Peale is thought to have executed his life study around 1781, following Jones’s triumphal return from France. Born in Virginia, Matthews had studied in Paris with portrait painter Carolus Duran in the 1880s before concentrating his career in and around Washington, D.C. Historian and architect Glenn Brown reported in his documentary volume, “The History of the United States Capitol,” that the Matthews painted Portrait of John Paul Jones was purchased directly from the artist on April 3, 1890. But the Congressional Record shows that discussions about acquisition of the painting took place both earlier, and later, than that date. The Painting was in “the care of the Navy Department” when deliberations began in March 1790; the Senate passed a bill to purchase the portrait in September; and the House followed suit in February 1891. Fond of historical subjects, George Bagby Matthews is known for his depictions of Robert E. Lee and His Generals, The Battle of the Merrimac with the Monitor, and Last of the Wooden Navy. The artist’s many portrait subjects ranged from Abraham Lincoln to Jefferson Davis. Matthews is further represented in the United States Senate by a Portrait of Patrick Henry. John Paul (he added "Jones" to his name later) was born in Kirkbean, Scotland. He attended parish school and then went to sea as an apprentice. Within four years, he Captained his own trading ship, sailing between English ports and the West Indies. During the early 1770s, he was involved in a series of controversial command decisions that resulted in the deaths of two crewmembers. Jones fled to America. In 1775, Jones moved to Philadelphia under the name of John Paul Jones. There, he obtained a Revolutionary War Continental Navy Appointment and Captained several ships in raids against the British. In 1776, he Commanded a worn-out French merchant ship, which he renamed the “Bonhomme Richard” (after Benjamin Franklin's nom de plume; “Poor Richard”). In a famous Naval Battle against the British frigate Serapis, Jones's refusal to accept defeat in this battle. Even as his ship the Bonhomme Richard sank, with nearly all her guns disabled, his ultimate victory proved to be one of the Continental Navy's most celebrated victories during the American Revolutionary War. After the Revolutionary War, Jones lived in France, where his naval exploits gained him the reputation of a romantic, swashbuckling privateer. Despite his appointment as Commander of the Russian fleet against the Turks in 1788, Jones continued to consider himself an American citizen. Jones died in Paris in 1792. In 1913, his remains were reinterred in the U.S. Naval Academy chapel in Annapolis. |
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Lot Number: 102
Click for a Printable Page Sign-in to Bid or Register to Bid |
Estimate Range: $8,000 - $12,000 |
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Early American History Auctions, Inc. 1520 Commerce St., # 312 • Winchester, VA 22601 Phone: 858 • 759 • 3290 Email: Auctions@EarlyAmerican.com |
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