Portrait of Samuel Sitgreaves

Currently not on view

Portrait of Samuel Sitgreaves

1798

Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin (French (active United States), 1770–1852)

The profile portrait bust, inspired ultimately by ancient coins, found great favor during the Neoclassical period. Soon after his arrival in the United States from his native France, Charles Févret de Saint-Mémin introduced a new French technique of creating profile portraits with a physiognotrace, a device for reproducing on paper the exact profile and features of the sitter. He typically used a beige paper washed with pink, tracing the profile with graphite and completing the drawing with black and white chalk. In 1798, when Saint-Mémin's mother settled in Burlington, New Jersey, he spent much of his time in nearby Philadelphia producing portraits of its prominent citizens, such as Samuel Sitgreaves. Samuel was a leading Philadelphia Federalist who was serving a term in Congress at the time he sat for Saint-Mémin.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Portrait of Samuel Sitgreaves

Date:

1798

Artist:

Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin (French (active United States), 1770–1852)

Medium:

Chalk over graphite on pink prepared paper

Dimensions:

Sheet: 18 5/8 x 13 7/8 inches (47.3 x 35.2 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

Bequest of Helen Hope Montgomery Scott, 1996

Accession Number:

1996-196-3

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view