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Lot Essay
Paul D. Schweizer, a recognized expert on the work of William J. Weaver, notes that the known Hamilton portraits by Weaver can be grouped according to certain stylistic patterns. This particular painting, he observes, is most like the Weaver portraits of Hamilton in the collection of Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown, the Museum of the City of New York, the New-York Historical Society, the one sold at Freeman's in Philadelphia (December, 2004) and the one illustrated in The Old Print Shop Portfolio (January, 1960), p. 120. In all of these works, including the portrait offered here, the treatment of the half-button under the lapel is identical.
The earliest located reference to Weaver's portrait(s) of Hamilton appeared in January of 1806, after Hamilton's death in 1804. In a 1999 analysis published in the American Art Journal, Paul D. Schweizer contends that the multiple portraits of Alexander Hamilton attributed to Weaver were likely produced after Hamilton's death. His evidence:
The Weaver portraits depict Hamilton in a uniform bearing an epaulet with a single star, indicating the rank of brigadier general. Schweizer points out that Hamilton never held this rank; he was given the two-star rank of major general in 1798. That latter, controversial, rank was only achieved after Hamilton pressured Washington for the position of second-in-command during the Quasi-War with France. It is unlikely, Schweizer adds, "that at the height of his military career Hamilton would have allowed himself to be portrayed with only one star.instead of the two that would correctly denote his hard-won role as the country's senior-ranking major general" (Schweizer 1999, p. 87). Too, the Weaver portraits depict Hamilton in a blue vest, which was never part of the Army's uniform. Hamilton, in advising Washington on the design, color and insignia of the army's uniforms, had recommended buff or white vests.
Physical and some documentary evidence suggests that Weaver's portraits may have been based on tracings, produced by mechanical means, of an 1804-1805 Alexander Anderson engraving after a James Sharples' portrait of Hamilton.
Sources:
Dr. Paul D. Schweizer, Director, Museum of Art at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 310 Genesee Street, Utica, NY, 13502, tel: 315-797-0000, x2140.
Bland, Harry MacNeill and Virginia W. Northcott. "The Life Portraits of Alexander Hamilton." William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, 1955, 12: 187+
Dunlap, William, edited by Rita Weiss. A History of the Rise and Progress of The Arts of Design in the United States (NY: Dover, 1969; reprint of the 1834 edition).
Hart, Charles Henry. "Life Portraits of Alexander Hamilton." McClure's Magazine, 8, April 1897, p. 507+.
Schweizer, Paul D. "William J. Weaver and his 'chymical and mechanical' portraits of Alexander Hamilton," American Art Journal, Spring-Fall 1999, 3: 82+.
Schweizer, Paul D. "William J. Weaver (ca. 1759-1817): Halifax portraitist," Nova Scotia Historical Review, Annual 1993, 13: 77-92.
Schweizer, Paul D. "The 'Strong and Striking' Likenesses of William J. Weaver (c. 1759-1817) - An Introduction." Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, November 1992, XVII(2): 1-36.
Smith, David S. "Success and Surprises for Americana at Freeman's." Antiques and the Arts, [December 2004]. Antiques and the Arts Story Archive, 2004. www.antiquesandthearts.com/AW-2004-12-14-12-57-25pl.htm.
The earliest located reference to Weaver's portrait(s) of Hamilton appeared in January of 1806, after Hamilton's death in 1804. In a 1999 analysis published in the American Art Journal, Paul D. Schweizer contends that the multiple portraits of Alexander Hamilton attributed to Weaver were likely produced after Hamilton's death. His evidence:
The Weaver portraits depict Hamilton in a uniform bearing an epaulet with a single star, indicating the rank of brigadier general. Schweizer points out that Hamilton never held this rank; he was given the two-star rank of major general in 1798. That latter, controversial, rank was only achieved after Hamilton pressured Washington for the position of second-in-command during the Quasi-War with France. It is unlikely, Schweizer adds, "that at the height of his military career Hamilton would have allowed himself to be portrayed with only one star.instead of the two that would correctly denote his hard-won role as the country's senior-ranking major general" (Schweizer 1999, p. 87). Too, the Weaver portraits depict Hamilton in a blue vest, which was never part of the Army's uniform. Hamilton, in advising Washington on the design, color and insignia of the army's uniforms, had recommended buff or white vests.
Physical and some documentary evidence suggests that Weaver's portraits may have been based on tracings, produced by mechanical means, of an 1804-1805 Alexander Anderson engraving after a James Sharples' portrait of Hamilton.
Sources:
Dr. Paul D. Schweizer, Director, Museum of Art at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 310 Genesee Street, Utica, NY, 13502, tel: 315-797-0000, x2140.
Bland, Harry MacNeill and Virginia W. Northcott. "The Life Portraits of Alexander Hamilton." William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, 1955, 12: 187+
Dunlap, William, edited by Rita Weiss. A History of the Rise and Progress of The Arts of Design in the United States (NY: Dover, 1969; reprint of the 1834 edition).
Hart, Charles Henry. "Life Portraits of Alexander Hamilton." McClure's Magazine, 8, April 1897, p. 507+.
Schweizer, Paul D. "William J. Weaver and his 'chymical and mechanical' portraits of Alexander Hamilton," American Art Journal, Spring-Fall 1999, 3: 82+.
Schweizer, Paul D. "William J. Weaver (ca. 1759-1817): Halifax portraitist," Nova Scotia Historical Review, Annual 1993, 13: 77-92.
Schweizer, Paul D. "The 'Strong and Striking' Likenesses of William J. Weaver (c. 1759-1817) - An Introduction." Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, November 1992, XVII(2): 1-36.
Smith, David S. "Success and Surprises for Americana at Freeman's." Antiques and the Arts, [December 2004]. Antiques and the Arts Story Archive, 2004. www.antiquesandthearts.com/AW-2004-12-14-12-57-25pl.htm.