Portrait of John Thomson Mason (1787-1850)
Date1810-1815 (probably)
Attributed to
Francis Cezeron
(fl. 1805 - 1815)
MediumOil on panel (est. by eye as tulip poplar)
DimensionsUnframed: 11 1/2 x 9 5/8in. (29.2 x 24.4cm) and Framed: 14 1/2 x 12 1/2in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2010.100.4,A&B
DescriptionA half-length profile portrait of a young man facing left. His dark brown hair is brushed toward his face on the sides and up on top. He wears a white neck cloth, white shirt, and white waistcoat with a dark blue coat having gold buttons. The figure is set against an undefined, oval-shaped, olive green background, with the remainder of the rectangular support (spandrels) filled in a plain grey color. The 1 1/2-inch gilded frame is decorated with beading and has a separate gilded wooden mat having an oval aperture. It is similar to the frame on companion portrait 2010.100.4, but the two frames are not identically constructed and it is uncertain which, if either, is original. The mat, or insert, for 2010.100.4 is basswood and has mitred corner joints.
Label TextBrothers Stevens Thomson Mason and John Thomson Mason were grandnephews of Revolutionary War patriot George Mason. They were also cousins of John Mason, Jr., whose wife’s portrait by Thomas Sully hangs nearby. John Thomson Mason studied at the College of William and Mary and married Elizabeth Moir in Williamsburg in 1809 before moving to Kentucky. Younger brother Stevens died at the age of 26.
These portraits were painted by French artist Francis Cezeron during a visit to Virginia. Foreign-born artists saw American travel as an economic opportunity. Little is known about Cezeron’s training, but newspaper advertisements mark his arrival in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a dance instructor and French teacher. The first reference to portrait painting appears in 1809 in Frederick, Maryland. Over the next decade, he traveled to Carlisle and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Culpeper County, Fredericksburg, and Loudoun County, Virginia. His profile portraits of the Masons bear similarities to the early work of fellow Lancaster resident and painter Jacob Eichholtz, who may have been trained by Cezeron.
InscribedInscriptions in graphite on the back of the tulip poplar (est.) primary support include: "1333," "Cut 1/2 inch/off the top," and "C. V./ Mrs Cusacks/[Annapolis?]". [Regarding the last, positioning may indicate that the initials "C. V." were meant to be inserted after the word "Mrs".] The two text inscriptions appear to be different hands.
In script in graphite on the back of the frame's wooden mat, which is cut with an oval aperture, are "778B/ 5247" and "[Ron?][Whitten?]".
ProvenanceSee "Published." The Sotheby's sale in which the portrait sold in 2008 was titled "Property of Rear Admiral Edward P. Moore and Barbara Bingham Moore." However, it has not yet been determined whether this was a single-owner sale, so the portrait's ownership that year remains unverified. The portrait re-sold at auction (Stair Galleries, Hudson, NY) in 2010, before being acquired by CWF's source, Alexander Reeves Fine Art of Richmond, Va.
Exhibition(s)
1810-1815 (probably)
ca. 1755-1758
ca.1835
1836
Probably 1710-1725