Painting

Title:

Frank Hawthorne Pierce

Object Name:

Painting

Object ID:

2008.052

Creator:

Belknap, Zedekiah (1781-1858)Artist

Date:

circa 1850

Description:

Portrait of Frank Hawthorne Pierce (1848-1908), by Zedekiah Belknap (1781-1858), c. 1850. Oil on wood panel. Full-length standing portrait of a boy. Sitter has short red-brown hair, and dark blue eyes. Wearing a red dress with lace at collar and sleeves, and green shoes with black bows. Holding a whip in his right hand. He is standing on a horsehair upholstered mahogany sofa. Green parrot on left, on top of sofa. Red, green, and brown background. Gilded gesso over wood frame with beveled cove.

Material:

Wood

Dimensions:

H-30 W-23 inches

Provenance:

The portrait was probably done for Frank's parents, Henry Dearborn and Sarah (Tuttle) Pierce, along with a portrait of Frank's elder brother, Kirk D. Pierce. The boys were nephews of President Franklin Pierce. The two portraits remained in the family until they were purchased from Mary and Susan K. Pierce, nieces of the subject, by antique dealer Richard L. Mills of Exeter, NH, in the 1960s. Mills sold the paintings to folk art collector Peter Tillou. The portrait of Frank was offered at the sale of the Tillou Collection at Sotheby's in New York on 10/26/1985 but didn't sell. Northeast Auctions of Portsmouth, NH, offered it twice: on 11/06/1993 and 08/20/1994. It was purchased by the seller at CRN Auctions, Cambridge, MA, on 11/17/2002.

Credit Line:

New Hampshire Historical Society Purchase, Katharine Prentis Murphy Fund

People:

Pierce, Frank H. (1848-1908), Belknap, Zedekiah (1781-1858)

Subjects:

Whips, Parrots, Childhood & youth, Children, Children's clothing & dress