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DS1983-961
Portrait of William Prentis (1699-1765)
DS1983-961

Portrait of William Prentis (1699-1765)

Date1735-1745
Attributed to Charles Bridges (1670 - 1747)
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Williamsburg
MediumOil on canvas (see "Notes" for more details on the canvas)
DimensionsUnframed: 30 1/4 x 25 1/8in. (76.8 x 63.8cm) and Framed: 33 1/4 x 28 1/2 x 1 1/2in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1978-79,A&B
DescriptionA half-length portrait of a standing man turned a quarter to the viewer's right. His near (proper right) arm is raised to waist height and, in this hand, he holds a piece of paper. He wears a brown coat, white shirt, and white neck cloth; he wears his own hair in long, flowing, grayish locks. The background is a warm red-brown.

The 2 1/4-inch black-painted, molded frame is a replacement that may date to the period of the portrait.
Label TextWilliam Prentis was taught to write and keep accounts at a London charity school. In 1715, still in his teens, the boy was apprenticed to merchant Archibald Blair in faraway Williamsburg. At Blair’s death in 1733, Prentis was managing the entire operation. He soon bought enough of the business to warrant changing its name to William Prentis & Co., and by 1740 had erected the brick store that survives today.

Charles Bridges painted large, sumptuous portraits of the region’s gentry, such as that of James Blair on the other side of this gallery. By contrast, his likeness of Prentis is modest in size and simple in detail, perhaps reflecting the subject’s humble origins.



MarkingsNo original markings found.
A press-printed label on the back of the upper frame member reads: "NO. 38774/FRAME."
ProvenanceOwnership prior to Mrs. Joseph Prentis Webb (Annie Jordan Darden)(1858-1945) is undocumented. A line of descent whose earliest portion is speculated runs as follows:
From the sitter to his son, Joseph L. Prentis (1754-1809) of Williamsburg, Va.; to his son, Joseph L. Prentis, Jr. (1783-1851) of Suffolk, Va.; to his daughter, Mrs. Robert Henning Webb (Margaret Susan Prentis)(1810-1882); to her son, Joseph Prentis Webb (1843-1892); to his widow, Mrs. Joseph Prentis Webb (Annie Jordan Darden)(1858-1945); to her son, Robert Henning Webb II (1882-?); to his widow, Mrs. Robert Henning Webb II (Blanche Farrington Miller)(1889-?), who was CWF's source. Acquisition negotiations were conducted with Mrs. Blanche M. Webb's son, Dr. Joseph Prentis Webb II (b. 1913).




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