Painting

Title:

Levi Woodbury

Object Name:

Painting

Object ID:

1913.001

Creator:

Harding, Chester (1792-1866)Artist

Date:

circa 1830

Description:

Portrait of Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), by Chester Harding (1792-1866), c. 1830. Oil on canvas on masonite. Bust-length portrait of a man, facing slightly left. Sitter is bald at top with brown hair at sides and brown sideburns; blue eyes. Wearing black coat, yellow waistcoat, white shirt with high collar and white stock. Dark gray background. Unsigned. Nameplate on frame: "Levi Woodbury. / Chester Harding." Gilded gesso over molded wood frame, round exterior molding with fruit and foliate corner decorations, sand gilding in cove, oval window with beaded trim.

Material:

Textile

Dimensions:

H-27 W-22 inches

Provenance:

Bought by Edward Tuck for NHHS in 1912 from Charles Henry Hart, a trustee of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Levi Woodbury was born December 22, 1789 in Francestown, NH. Died September 4, 1851. Dartmouth degree. Admitted to the bar in 1812. Married Elizabeth Williams Clapp and made home in Portsmouth. 1817, appointed associate justice of the State Supreme Court. 1823, Governor of NH and approved in his term the establishment of the N.H.H.S. and was its first vice president and second president. 1825, elected to the U. S. Senate by the NH Legislature. 1834, appointed Secretary of the Treasury. 1841, he was again elected to the U.S. Senate. 1845, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. 1848, considered for the presidency but died in 1851.

Credit Line:

Gift of Edward Tuck

People:

Woodbury, Levi (1789-1851), Harding, Chester (1792-1866), Tuck, Edward (1842-1938)

Subjects:

Woodbury, Levi, Lawyers, Democrat, Political parties, Governors, Senators (U.S.), Supreme Court justices