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Portrait 1958.100.13
Portrait of The Reverend Dr. Jacob Kirkpatrick (1785-1866)
Portrait 1958.100.13

Portrait of The Reverend Dr. Jacob Kirkpatrick (1785-1866)

Date1817
Artist James Herring (1794-1867)
OriginAmerica, New Jersey
MediumOil on eastern white pine panel
DimensionsUnframed: 30 x 25in. (76.2 x 63.5cm) and Framed: 33 1/4 x 28 1/4in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1958.100.13
DescriptionMr. Kirkpatrick is seated in a bamboo turned, bird cage type Windsor writing chair, the writing surface of which is covered in a green material held in place by brass tacks. He sits half-turned to the left, looking at the viewer. He holds a quill pen,and beneath his right hand is paper on which appears an illegible inscription. He wears a dark coat, in the front opening of which he has placed his left hand. He appears also to be wearing a dark vest and white shirt with a pleated ruffle and high white stock. He has rosy coloration to his face and thick dark hair and heavy dark eyebrows. The brightness of the face stands out on the panel. It picks up light from a source behind the artist which is especially reflected off the tip of the nose. A brown curtain is pulled back at the right to reveal shelves of books which from top to bottom are: Caves Lives, Young, Saints Rest, Campbell's Four Gospels in four volumes, Christian Observer, four volumes of Josephus, Life of Calvin, and Bellamy. They are all in bindings of red and brown, except for black in the area of the lettering on some of the books. The lettering is in gold. A warm atmosphere is created by Herring's careful arrangement of rich reds, browns, fleshy tones, and gold. Observance under the ultra-violet light reveals that the curtain was modeled by the alteration of quite distinct bands of different shades of the brown. From some of these areas, paint has run down into the next. This seems to have occured at the time the picture was painted. "Inscriptions" Above the signature and slightly to the left of center someone has written in pencil: 1817- 1785= 32, calculating the age of Rev. Kirkpatrick at the time of the sitting. In the lower right hand corner of the panel a bunch of grapes with three large leaves has been painted in black, partially covering another inscription, which reads: "E. H. Schan... Lambertv... N.J.
Label TextThis portrait and its companion are the earliest dated Herring likenesses recorded. The two pictures cost Rev. Kirkpatrick thirty dollars. About the same time they were commissioned, Herring painted young Jacob Merseles of Hudson County, New Jersey, depicting him with a quill pen in his hand, in a waist-length, three-quarter pose similar to Rev. Kirkpatrick's. On the paper under Merseles's hand is "Portraits painted in/this style at $15 by/Jas. Herring."
InscribedOn the reverse of the panel appears "Revd Dr J Kirkpatrick/Painted/A.D. 1817" and, below in penciled script, partially covered by a bunch of grapes and three leaves painted black, is "E H Schan---/Lambertv---/N J." Other period writing along the back of one member of the frame is indecipherable. The books on the shelves beyond the sitters are titled "CAMPBELL'S FOUR GOSPELS," "JOSEPHUS," "BELLAMY'S WORKS," "LIFE OF CALVIN," "CHRISTIAN OBSERVER," "SAINTS REST," "YOUNG, "C---'S LIVES," and another that is illegible.
ProvenanceJ. Stuart Halladay and Herrel George Thomas, Sheffield, Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson, who was AARFAC's vendor.