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Portrait 2010.100.3
Portrait of Stevens Thomson Mason (1789-1815)
Portrait 2010.100.3

Portrait of Stevens Thomson Mason (1789-1815)

Date1810-1815 (probably)
Attributed to Francis Cezeron (fl. 1805 - 1815)
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Loudoun County
MediumOil on panel (est. by eye as tulip poplar)
DimensionsUnframed: 12 1/16 x 9 9/16in. (30.6 x 24.3cm) and Framed: 14 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2010.100.3,A&B
DescriptionA half-length profile portrait of a young man facing left. He has dark brown hair brushed toward his face on the sides, up on top, plus long sideburns. He wears a white neck cloth and shirt with a black coat having a high collar. The figure is set against an undefined, oval-shaped background ranging in color from a rich reddish brown at lower right to an olive green at upper left. The remainder of the rectangular support (spandrels) are filled in with a plain grey color.

The 1 1/2-inch gilded frame is decorated with beading and has a separate gilded wooden mat having an oval aperture. It is similar to the frame on companion portrait 2010.100.4, but the two frames are not identically constructed and it is uncertain which, if either, is original. The mat, or insert, for 2010.100.3 is soft pine and made from one piece of wood.
Label TextBrothers Stevens Thomson Mason and John Thomson Mason were grandnephews of Revolutionary War patriot George Mason. They were also cousins of John Mason, Jr., whose wife’s portrait by Thomas Sully hangs nearby. John Thomson Mason studied at the College of William and Mary and married Elizabeth Moir in Williamsburg in 1809 before moving to Kentucky. Younger brother Stevens died at the age of 26.

These portraits were painted by French artist Francis Cezeron during a visit to Virginia. Foreign-born artists saw American travel as an economic opportunity. Little is known about Cezeron’s training, but newspaper advertisements mark his arrival in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a dance instructor and French teacher. The first reference to portrait painting appears in 1809 in Frederick, Maryland. Over the next decade, he traveled to Carlisle and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Culpeper County, Fredericksburg, and Loudoun County, Virginia. His profile portraits of the Masons bear similarities to the early work of fellow Lancaster resident and painter Jacob Eichholtz, who may have been trained by Cezeron.

MarkingsA small, press-printed label on the back of the top frame member reads "Stevens Thomson Mason". This appears to have been cut out of a larger piece of text, since the tops of some letters from a lower line barely show at the bottom. Was it cut from a newspaper?
ProvenanceSee "Published." The Sotheby's sale in which the portrait sold in 2008 was titled "Property of Rear Admiral Edward P. Moore and Barbara Bingham Moore." However, it has not yet been determined whether this was a single-owner sale, so the portrait's ownership that year remains unverified. The portrait re-sold at auction (Stair Galleries, Hudson, NY) in 2010, before being acquired by CWF's source, Alexander Reeves Fine Art of Richmond, Va.
Exhibition(s)