Portrait of Joseph Colby (1787-1857)

Date1823-1825 (probably)

Attributed to Mr. Willson (ac. ca. 1810-1830)

OriginAmerica, New Hampshire, New London

MediumWatercolor and graphite on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary support: 23 11/16 x 19 7/16in. and Framed: 25 1/16 x 21 1/16 x 15/16in.

Credit LineGift of Mary Cleveland Sholty in memory of her sister, Patience Cleveland

Object number2005.300.1

DescriptionA bust- (nearly half-) length portrait of a plumpish man turned three-quarters to the left, his head basically in line with his body. He has pale blue eyes, and his short, stiff brown hair is brushed straight up on top of his head and forward, over his forehead. He wears a white tie, secured in a bow beneath his chin, and a white shirt with a high collar. Over the shirt, he wears a sprigged, white waistcoat with gold buttons and a dark blue outer coat with gold buttons, the lapels being deeply notched. The background is left unpainted. The subject nearly fills the available space, the top of his head approaching the upper edge of the primary support, and his body stretching from side to side of the lower edge.
Label TextFew likenesses by Mr. Willson are known. In terms of its linear definition and scale (which is unusually large for a watercolor portrait), this example is characteristic of the artist's striking style.

The portrait subject was the eldest child born to Joseph Colby, Sr. (1762-1843) and his wife, Anna Heath Colby (1762-1847), of New London, New Hampshire. Throughout his life, the younger Joseph Colby occupied the family home on New London's Main Street. Genealogies succinctly describe him as "eccentric" but do not elaborate. He never married. Willson probably portrayed other members of the extended Colby family, but thus far, no related likenesses have been located.

InscribedSee "Marks." No freehand inscriptions noted.
MarkingsA watermark running vertically through the left background reads, in open, block-printed letters, in upper and lower case capitals (which cannot be reproduced here): "J Whatman/1823". (The date was reported in the Northeast Document Conservation Center report of 8 February 1982 as "1825," but appears to the present examiner to be "1823").
ProvenanceAARFAM's donor believes the portrait remained in the New London family homestead from the time it was created until 1980, when it was [inherited?] by a collateral descendant of the subject, Patience Cleveland of Woodland Hills, California (Sholty to AARFAM, 30 November, 2004). Upon Patience Cleveland's death in May 2004, the portrait descended to her sister, AARFAM's donor, Mary Cleveland Sholty.