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1956-561,A&B, Painting
Portrait of William Byrd II (1674-1744)
1956-561,A&B, Painting

Portrait of William Byrd II (1674-1744)

Date1700-1704
Studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723)
OriginEngland, London
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 49 1/2 x 39 3/4in. (125.7 x 101cm) and Framed: 55 5/8 x 46 5/8 x 2 1/2in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1956-561,A&B
DescriptionA three-quarter-length portrait of a standing man, his body turned a quarter towards the viewer's left. His proper left hand rests on his near hip, while his proper right arm is very slightly raised, suggesting he is gesturing into the distance.
Label TextFrom 1689 until his death in 1723, Sir Godfrey Kneller served as principal painter to the king. In that capacity, he was responsible for official state portraits of the monarch. Yet much of his time was consumed by private commissions from those who aspired to political, economic, and social success.

William Byrd II inherited great estates in Virginia which, together with the force of his personality and his own accomplishments, made him one of the most prominent and powerful men in the colony. His stylish portrait is an example of his ambitions, having been executed in London by the most prestigious studio of the day.

Byrd brought his portrait back to Virginia to hang at Westover, the manor house on his Charles City County plantation. Over the ensuing years, he amplified the painting's impact and further emulated the English elite by assembling and displaying a collection of more than thirty portraits of family members and friends, an extraordinary cultural achievement for the time and place.





ProvenanceFrom the subject to his son, William Byrd III of Westover (1728-1777); to his wife, Mary Willing Byrd (1740-1814); to one of her three sons, Charles Willing Byrd, Richard Wiling Byrd (d. 1815), or William Powl Byrd, i.e., Mary Willing Byrd's will left EACH of these three sons a portrait of William Byrd II; it is unclear which son inherited CWF's portrait, but it is a moot point, as it is believed (Meschutt, p. 39) that Charles and William declined to take possession of their portraits and, upon Richard's death in 1815, CWF's portrait (among a larger group still at Westover) passed to the Byrd brothers' sister Evelyn, wife of Benjamin Harrison of Brandon plantation. Thence:

From Mrs. Benjamin Harrison (Evelyn Taylor Byrd)(1766-1817) to her son, George Evelyn Harrison (1797-1839); to his son, George Evelyn Harrison, Jr. (1837-1880); willed jointly to his granddaughters, Mrs. Louis E. Fagan (Evelyn Byrd Harrison)(1891-1972) and Mrs. Frederick C. McCormack (Virginia Ritchie Harrison)(1897-1973). [N. B. Virginia Ritchie Harrison married three times; in chronological order, her husbands were Frederick Clarke McCormack, Desmond Roberts, and William Roy Conley]. From 1925 until acquired by Colonial Williamsburg, the painting was owned solely by Mrs. Conley; it was sold on her behalf by Thomas and Constance Williams, CWF's vendor.

Exhibition(s)