Painting

Title:

Ward Sampson

Object Name:

Painting

Object ID:

1964.002.01

Creator:

Walker, Samuel Swan (1806-1848)Artist; Plumbe, John Jr. (1809-1857)Artist

Place of Origin:

Boston, MA

Date:

1844

Description:

Miniature portrait of Ward Sampson (1773-1850), attributed to Samuel Swan Walker (1806-1848), 1844. Watercolor on ivory on paper. Half-length portrait of a man, facing slightly left. Sitter has short gray hair and gray eyes. He is wearing a black coat, black double-breasted waistcoat, white shirt with high collar. Seated in a Windsor chair. Gray hatched background with brown lower. Ink inscription reverse of paper mount: " Squire Sampson / Washington N.H. / Squire Sampson was for / thirty-five years Justice of the / Peace in Washington, N.H. and / it was said of him that few / cases brought before him ever / went to court. This portrait / on ivory was painted by the / same artist who did father's / portrait in the gold locket. / (Dr. Walker) He was my / mother's grandfather, at whose house / she spent her summer vacations. / Anna M. Thomas." Paper loose in case with ink inscription: " Squire Sampson / of Washington N.H. / Grandfather of Mary Eliza (Fisher) Thomas / (see inside)". Stamped on case mat: "Plumbe". Embossed inscription on case front: "PLUMBE / MANUFACTURER / N.Y." Brown leather case with red and purple velvet lining, paper lining, gilded metal mat with rounded upper edges, glazed.

Material:

Skeletal
Ivory
Paper

Dimensions:

H-3.7 W-2.9 inches

Provenance:

Ward Sampson was born in Harvard, MA, Jan. 4, 1773. Married Elizabeth Wood, Jan. 6, 1800. They had four children. Died Sept. 10, 1850. Prominent man in Washington, NH, affairs. Took father's inn for one year. Teacher in Washington School District.

Case history: John Plumbe Jr.'s Plumbe's National Daguerreian Gallery was operated in Albany, NY, by John S. Walker, 1843-1844.

Credit Line:

Gift of Rebecca P. Flint

People:

Sampson, Ward (1773-1850), Walker, Samuel Swan (1806-1848), Plumbe, John, Jr. (1809-1857), Thomas, Mary E. (1825-1909), Thomas, Anna M. (1848-1924), Flint, Rebecca P. (1892-1978)

Subjects:

Portrait miniatures, Teachers