Portrait of George Purdie (1730-1803)
Date1767
Attributed to
John Durand (active 1760-1782)
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 81.3 x 66cm (32 x 26in.)
Framed: 37 1/2 x 32 1/2in.
Credit LineGift of Doris Gwaltney
Object number2016-89,A
DescriptionA half-length portrait of a middle aged man turned slightly towards the viewer's left. the sitter's blue eyes look slightly over his shoulder towards the viewer, revealing brown hair that is cropped close around his forehead but transitions into loose curls behind the ears. The man is attired in a red coat and waistcoat with buttons covered in the same textile. Small areas of his ruffled white shirt are visible at the neckline and cuffs. His proper right arm crosses his torso and presents a partially opened bill of exchange, while his left hand is inserted under his waistcoat. The bill of exchange is partially legible, reading: "Virginia Sept. 16th 1767, exchange for £500...At ten days sight of this my first Bill of Exchange....my second and third (of the same)..."Label TextScottish immigrant George Purdie and his wife, Mary Robinson Purdie, lived in Smithfield, about 20 miles down the James River from Williamsburg. A merchant, George represented the Glasgow firm of Andrew, Archibald, & Buchanan. Mary was the daughter of wealthy landowners in adjacent York County and the sister-in-law of Williamsburg mayor Thomas Everard.
The Purdie portraits were rendered by John Durand, a London-trained itinerate artist who painted in several southeastern Virginia locales from the 1760s to about 1782. During his stay in Williamsburg, Durand likely lived and painted at the Grissell Hay Lodging House, still standing on Market Square.
ProvenanceThe will of Mary Robinson Purdie includes “two family portraits,” which could refer to the Durand paintings. After her death, they passed to her eldest son, John Hyndman Purdie (1770-1845), to his son John Robinson Purdie (1809-1898), to his son Thomas Smith Purdie (1853-1923), to his son Colonel Kenneth Sinclair Purdie (1892-1983). At this time, Doris Horne Gwaltney, a descendant of John Hyndman Purdie’s brother, Thomas, assumed ownership. Doris Gwaltney and her husband William Atwill Gwaltney donated the portraits to Colonial Williamsburg in March 2016 along with a number of other Purdie family objects.
Doris Gwaltney is a direct descendent of George and Mary Purdie through their son Thomas. At the time of Mary's death, the portraits passed to her eldest son John and descended through John's line until 1983 when the portraits passed to Doris. Although the portraits did not descend in the same family line until CW acquired them they do come to us by direct descend from the sitters.
ca. 1845
December 21, 1785
Probably 1770
Probably 1820-1825
