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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, the son of a London baker and porter, acquired writing, bookkeeping, and accounting skills at a London home for orphans, Christ's Hospital. In 1714, he was apprenticed to Williamsburg storekeeper Archibald Blair, whose thriving business provided an excellent opportunity for the young man's advancement.

By 1733, Prentis was mangaging the store, and after Blair's death that year, Prentis managed to buy a one-sixth share of the business, in the process changing the firm's name to William Prentis & Co. Prentis's careful records reveal his business acumen: between 1743 and 1765, his stockholders' equity grew from 6,000 to 17,391 pounds.

Williamsburg visitors can still make purchases at Prentis's store on Duke of Gloucester Street, and they can see his reconstructed home (now a private residence) at the corner of Duke of Gloucester and Botetourt Streets. Prentis had acquired the valuable residential property from tavern keeper John Brooke soon after marrying Brooke's daughter, Mary.

Prentis's portrait bears all the stylistic hallmarks of Charles Bridges, an English-born artist who painted numerous Virginia portraits on a stay in the colony in 1735-1745.

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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