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1966-211, Portrait
Portrait of Barrister Dutton
1966-211, Portrait

Portrait of Barrister Dutton

Dateca. 1710
OriginEngland
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 30 x 25 1/16in. (76.2 x 63.7cm) and Framed: 36 x 30 7/8 x 2in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1966-211
DescriptionA bust-length portrait of a man turned one quarter towards the viewer's right, his head turned almost full face to the viewer. He wears a large, grayish-brown, full-bottomed wig with peaks on either side of a center part. He has light brown, or hazel, eyes, a smooth, chubby face, and full, bright pink lips. He wears a medium-blue gown, silk in appearance, with a splash of pale lavender or pink showing beyond the edge of it, possibly a lining fabric. A white cravat is looped at his throat. The portrait is set within medium brown feigned spandrels, the two at the bottom more evident than the two at the top.
The current (3/10/2009) 3 3/8-inch bolection molded frame, painted black with a bronze-painted (over gilding?) liner and outer edge, is a 1775-1800 replacement that was acquired independently of the portrait in 1968 (and is accessioned as no. 1968-310, which see). The frame in which the painting was received in 1966 was deemed to be of 19th century fabrication, was removed, and as of 3/10/2009, was stored in the Palace.

Label TextWilliam Byrd II, one of the wealthiest men in Virginia, lived at Westover plantation on the James River. There, in addition to the usual luxuries for men of his station, he housed an extensive library and a large collection of portraits, the latter unparalleled in the colonies. Primarily gathered while Byrd lived in London, the paintings depicted prominent British figures, some he knew and some he aspired to know.

The exact identity of this sitter remains a mystery. In her 1814 will, Byrd’s daughter-in-law called him “Mr. Dutton.” Family tradition further termed him “Barrister Dutton,” implying a legal profession.

What’s the Connection?
This is one of some 30 portraits that hung in the “gallery of worthies” at Byrd’s Westover plantation.
ProvenanceThe picture descended in the allied Byrd and Harrison families until it was acquired by CWF in 1966. The line of descent is believed to have been:
From William Byrd II (1674-1744) to his son, William Byrd III (1728-1777); to his wife, Mrs. William Byrd III (Mary Willing)(1740-1814); left in her will to her son, William Powel Byrd who, however, appears not to have taken possession of the painting but to have passed it to his sister, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison (nee Evelyn Taylor Byrd)(1766-1817) of Upper Brandon plantation; to her son, William Byrd Harrison (1800-1870); to his daughter, Mrs. Alexander Burton Randall (nee Jane Nicholas Randolph Harrison)(1862-1926); to her son, Burton Harrison Randolph Randall (1893-1971), who was CWF's vendor.