Painting
- Title:
- Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth
- Object Name:
- Painting
- Object ID:
- 1969.030.01
- Creator:
- Blackburn, Joseph -- Artist
- Place of Origin:
- Portsmouth, NH
- Date:
- 1760
- Description:
- Portrait of Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth (1671-1730) by Joseph Blackburn (fl. 1753-1763), 1760. Oil on canvas. Full-length standing portrait of a man; turned slightly left with head turned slightly right, and eyes toward viewer. Sitter has brown eyes, brown wig, and ruddy complexion; sitter's right arm extended, left hand resting on hilt of sword, and cocked hat tucked under arm. Wearing a reddish-brown coat and waistcoat with brass buttons, white cravat, white stockings, black shoes with gold buckles. Column on base right middle ground. Architectural background with arched colonnade and landscape in left background. Brown floor. Signed in block lettering and black paint, left of center, 3" long: "I. Blackburn Pinxit 1760." Gilded gesso over wood frame with convex cove and low-relief foliate scroll designs; 18th-century frame.
- Material:
- Textile
- Dimensions:
- H-93.5 W-58 inches
- Provenance:
- This portrait was commissioned by John Wentworth's son, Benning Wentworth (1696-1770), and originally hung in Benning Wentworth's home at Little Harbor, just south of Portsmouth. During the 19th century, after Benning's heirs had left NH for England, a family antiquarian, Ebenezer Wentworth, acquired this portrait and the portrait of Benning Wentworth (1969.030.02). The portraits were then passed down from Ebenezer Wentworth to the eldest son in each generation, until inherited by the donors, who gave the paintings to the NHHS. Ebenezer's will in 1859 also stated that the portraits were not to leave the state of NH.
Benning Wentworth (1696-1770) to brother of Benning, Daniel (b. 01/05/1715), then his son George (b. 01/11/1740), then his son Ebenezer, (b. 09/4/1799), then Mark Hunking (b. 03/12/1813), then his son Charles (b. 07/20/1845), then his son Strafford (b. 08/05/1872). The donors are the three daughters of Strafford and Margaret Wentworth. - Credit Line:
- Given in Memory of Strafford and Margaret Wentworth by their daughters, Anne Wentworth Morss, Margaret Wentworth Whiting, and Constance Wentworth Dodge
- Subjects:
- Wentworth, John, Governors, Sea captains, Portraits, Portrait paintings, Portraiture, Rococo
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