Painting

Title:

Dudley Leavitt

Object Name:

Painting

Object ID:

1875.001

Creator:

Ingalls, Walter (1805-1874)Artist

Place of Origin:

Meredith, NH

Date:

1849

Description:

Portrait of Dudley Leavitt (1772-1851), by Walter Ingalls (1805-1874), 1849. Oil on canvas on masonite. Bust-length portrait of man facing left; eyes toward viewer. Sitter has thin gray hair, gray eyes, and wrinkles. He is wearing a black coat, black waistcoat, white shirt with turnover collar, and black knotted cravat. He holds open book in his left hand: on the right page are depicted stars, moon, sun, square, compass, and a geometric exercise, together with inscription: "The Mind / is / The Man / DL." Mottled, light brown background within oval and painted dark brown spandrels. Painted inscription on canvas reverse (now concealed): "Painted / Augt 1849" and "Dudley Leavitt / Age 77." Paper label with typed inscription on the reverse: "Dudley Leavitt / Painted Aug. 1849." Gilded gesso over molded wood frame. Brass nameplate: "Dudley Leavitt. / Walter Ingalls."

Material:

Textile
Canvas
Masonite

Dimensions:

H-30 W-25 inches

Provenance:

Concord Monitor 1874 reference to the painting -- it was in the possession of Walter Ingalls, Tilton, N.H., when he died, and was noticed by C.J. Conner. The painting was then exhibited in "Robinson & Tilton's, where it can be seen by those interested in it."

According to subject's granddaughter, this portrait was painted by Sanbornton artist Walter Ingalls (1805-1874) "for his own private collection...the artist (coming) to (Leavitt's) house for the sittings." Portrait was found among the artist's effects by his brother-in-law, Charles J. Conner, and was exhibited in 1874 Concord. Was purchased the following year for the Society by a committee of nine, whose names are listed in Accession File.

Credit Line:

Purchased for the New Hampshire Historical Society by Charles H. Bell, William H.Y. Hackett, Thomas C. Amory, Joseph B. Walker, Samuel C. Eastman, Nathaniel White, George C. Fogg, William B. Towne, and Edson C. Eastman

People:

Leavitt, Dudley (1772-1851), Ingalls, Walter (1805-1874)

Subjects:

Almanacs, Education, Leavitt, Dudley, Mathematicians, Newspaper editors, Science, Teachers, Mathematics