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Portrait 1938-190
Portrait of David Meade, Jr. (1744-1830)
Portrait 1938-190

Portrait of David Meade, Jr. (1744-1830)

Dateca. 1752
Attributed to Thomas Hudson (1701-1779)
OriginEngland, London
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 30 x 25in. (76.2 x 63.5cm) and Framed: 36 1/2 x 31 1/2in.
Credit LineGift of Tyrrell Williams
Object number1938-190
DescriptionA half-length portrait of a standing boy who is turned one quarter toward the viewer's left, his proper right hand thrust inside his partially unbuttoned waistcoat, his proper left arm hanging along his side (and pressing to his side a black hat, cocked up on three sides), the hand not shown. He wears a white shirt with ruffles at the wrists and a ruffled collar surrounding the neck, a light blue waistcoat, and a gray coat with a light blue tabbed collar. The coat and waistcoat both have silver buttons and silver embroidered buttonholes, the waistcoat also trimmed in silver braid, as is the hat. The boy has brown eyes and ear-length, curling brown hair. He stands erect and gazes directly at the viewer. The (viewer's) left side of the picture is filled with a red drapery, knotted or gathered near the top; the remainder of the background is a warm brown.
The frame currently (11/13/2008) on the painting is a 3 1/2-inch stained, bolection molded frame having a carved and gilded sight edge; it is a period replacement. It was acquired independently of the picture and is accessioned as 1956-164, which entry see for further details.





Label TextAt the age of 7, Virginian David Meade, Jr. was sent to England for formal education. He returned to Virginia at 17 and later served in the House of Burgesses. In 1768, he married Williamsburg resident Sarah Waters. Just before the Revolution, the couple moved to Maycox planation in Prince George County, across the James River from William Byrd’s Westover. In 1796, they relocated to Kentucky where Meade spent his remaining years giving full rein to his landscaping talent and honing his reputation for lavish, seemingly spontaneous hospitality.

What’s the Connection?
The talented Thomas Hudson painted young Meade’s portrait while the boy was at school in England. It was likely sent to his parents in faraway Virginia, where it must have been a comfort during the child’s ten-year absence.
ProvenancePer file statements made by Tyrell Williams on 4 January 1938 and 1 May 1938, the portrait descended from the father of the subject, David Meade, Sr.; to his son, the subject, David Meade, Jr.; to his son, Richard Everard Meade of Oldham County, Kentucky; to his niece, Mrs. Jesse Lynch Williams (Susan Creighton)(d. 1899) of Fort Wayne, Indiana; to her son, Edward Peet Williams of New York, NY; to his widow, Laura Carroll Williams of Washington, DC; to her late husband's nephew, Tyrell Williams, in November 1937, the last being CWF's donor.
Exhibition(s)