Painting

Title:

Count Rumford, Benjamin Thompson

Object Name:

Painting

Object ID:

1946.018.21

Creator:

Burgum, John (1826-1907)Artist

Place of Origin:

Concord, New Hampshire

Date:

1851-1895

Description:

Portrait of Count Rumford, Benjamin Thompson (1753-1814), by John Burgum (1826-1907), c. 1880. Oil on canvas. Three-quarter length portrait of seated man facing left. Seated in an red-upholstered armchair. A green fabric-draped table in left foreground; a standish and other writing materials on table. Curtain draped in background with tassels; opening at right revealing book-shelves. Subject sits with his left arm extended and draped over arm of chair; his right arm, bent at elbows, rests on other arm of chair; his right hand with extended forefinger supports his head. Wearing a dark blue coat with brass buttons, light blue sash, light brown trousers, double-breasted white waistcoat, white shirt with frill, and white cravat; a watch fob, executed in red, blue, and yellow brown, hangs at the subject's right. Unsigned. Pencil inscription on stretcher: "Burgum-Rumford". Gilded gesso over molded wood frame.

Material:

Textile
Canvas

Dimensions:

H-18.1 W-15.1 inches

Provenance:

The lender's grandmother, Emma (Gannell) Burgum (1826-1923) was the adopted daughter of Sarah Thompson, Countess Rumford, (the subject's daughter). See accession files for details.
Believed to have been painted by John Burgum (1826-1907), the lender's grandfather, after a pastel portrait done in London by William Lane, 1798-1800, and now also included in the NHHS collections. (1979.020.01). See accession file for details of attribution to Burgum.

Credit Line:

The Edwin G. Burgum Collection

People:

Burgum, John (1826-1907), Count Rumford, Rumford, Thompson, Benjamin (1753-1814)

Subjects:

Rumford, Thompson, Benjamin, Inventors, Scientists, Statesmen, Portrait paintings, Portraits