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2020-3, Portrait
Portrait of William Henry Capers (1758-1805)
2020-3, Portrait

Portrait of William Henry Capers (1758-1805)

Date1788
Artist Ralph Earl (1751 - 1801)
OriginAmerica, Connecticut, Greenwich
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 36 1/4 × 30in. (92.1 × 76.2cm) Framed: 39 1/2 × 35 1/2in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund
Object number2020-3,A&B
DescriptionPortrait of a seated man with his proper left lebow resting on a table. His left arm is positioned so that his face rests on his hand, his pointer finger on his temple. His legs are crossed and his right arm rests on his lap. In his right hand he holds a letter. An open window in the background shows a landscape scene with a church and houses. He wears a grey suit jacket with black knee breeches adorned with a buckle. His cream colored waistcoat is embroidered along the edges with gold and red thread.
Label TextBorn in Massachusetts, Ralph Earl trained in England before establishing himself in New York City around 1785. Soon afterward he was sued for nonpayment of a loan and imprisoned for debt in City Hall, the epicenter of local political and judicial life. Yet prison time was beneficial to Earl’s career, resulting in 20 portrait commissions and connections that would later yield even more work.

Hailing from St. Helena, South Carolina, William Capers traveled to Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1784 to attend the Rev. Timothy Dwight’s school. While there, he met Abigail Burr, a student in the female academy adjacent to Dwight’s school for “boys intended for Yale.” They were married in 1789 and shortly relocated to South Carolina. Produced in 1788, William’s portrait likely hung in the couple’s South Carolina home.

Provenance1788, the sitter, William Henry Capers [1768?-1805] (St. Helena Parish, South Carolina); 1805 by inheritence to the sitter's son, Thomas Farr Capers [1801-1870] (Charleston, South Carolina); 1870 by inheritence to his son, Rev. William Henry Capers [1844-1896] (Charleston, South Carolina); 1896 by inheritence to his daughter Thayer Capers Allen [1881-1951] (Charleston, South Carolina); 1951 by inheritence to her daughter Thayer Capers "Peach" Allen Boswell [1917-2018] (Summerville, South Carolina); 2020-present, purchased at auction [Sotheby's, New York, January 26, 2020, lot #1685] by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, Virginia)