Photography by Dwight Primiano
Colonel Samuel Boyer Davis
The state of Delaware commissioned this portrait of Colonel Samuel Boyer Davis to honor his defense of Delaware Bay in the War of 1812. Thomas Sully studied art in London and applied the prestige and heroism embodied in full-length English military portraiture to his American subjects.
ArtistThomas Sully(1783-1872)
Date1819
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions96 3/4 x 70 13/16 x 4 5/8 in. (245.7 x 179.9 x 11.7 cm)
Signedl.r., in gray paint: TS. 1819.
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2007.4
ClassificationPainting
ProvenanceColonel Samuel Boyer Davis [1766-1854] (the sitter), until 1854; by descent to Sussex Delaware Davis (his grandson), Philadelphia, PA; to (David David, Philadelphia, PA); to (Hirsch & Adler Galleries, New York, NY), 1976; to Private Collection, New York, NY, 1986; to (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY), 2007; purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2007
On ViewNo
This artwork's face covers about 6.3× the area of a standard movie poster.Drawn to the same scale.