Portrait of Asahel Bacon (1764-1838)

Date1795

Artist William Jennys (1774-1859)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, Litchfield County (n. 1)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 30" x 25" and Framed: 33" x 28"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1963.100.1

DescriptionA half-length portrait of a man, shown standing, his body turned slightly towards the viewer's right, his lower arms and hands not shown, and his gaze towards the viewer; feigned spandrels fill the four corners of the composition. He has blue eyes. His wavy, ear-length, reddish- brown hair is cut very short over his forehead and falls loose at sides and back. He wears a medium-blue coat whose lapels are piped in black. He also wears a high-collared black waistcoat, a white shirt, and a white neckcloth. The last is tied in a bow at the front of his neck, its dangling end displaying a bit of embroidery. The background is light brown with darker brown spandrels.

The 2 1/4-inch flat, black-painted frame is a mid-nineteenth-century replacement, its sight edge consisting of a separate, raised, black-painted, flat strip.
Label TextAsahel Bacon was one of nine children born to Jabez Bacon, Sr. (1731-1806), a wealthy, self-made merchant of Woodbury, Connecticut, and his wife, Lydia Hungerford Bacon (?-?). In 1786, Asahel married Hannah French (1765-1833), the daughter of William and Ann French of Southbury, Connecticut, and the couple lived in the white frame house, still standing, that had been built for him in Roxbury in 1784.

Also see this portrait's three companion likenesses, which show the subject's spouse and two children. Jennys portraits of Asahel's younger brother, Daniel Bacon (1772-1824), and sister-in-law, Rebecca Thompson Bacon (1775-?), were also painted at or about the same time; the Daniel Bacon family lived in Woodbury, not far from Roxbury; both towns are in Litchfield County.

The dark brown painted spandrels and warm, lighter brown backgrounds in the group of four paintings set off to advantage the frequently brilliant coloration of the sitters' costumes.

InscribedNone found, but see 1963.100.2.
ProvenanceAll four companion portraits (1963.100.1, 1963.100.2, 1963.100.3, and 1963.100.4) descended in the family of the subject of the fourth portrait, Mary Ann Bacon Wittlesey (Mrs. Chauncey Whittlesey); to Elizabeth Whittlesey Preston (Mrs. Bennett Sheldon Preston); to her son, Edward Whittlesey Preston; to his son, Bennett Preston of Bridgeport, Conn; sold by the preceding to dealer Mary Allis of Fairfield, Conn., who was CWF's source.