Colonel Benjamin Stephenson

Unidentified, Colonel Benjamin Stephenson, ca. 1800, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1976.56
Copied Unidentified, Colonel Benjamin Stephenson, ca. 1800, watercolor on ivory, sight 2 782 18 in. (7.25.3 cm) oval, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1976.56
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Artwork Details

Title
Colonel Benjamin Stephenson
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1800
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sight 2 782 18 in. (7.25.3 cm) oval
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
Keywords
  • Portrait male — Stephenson, Benjamin — bust
Object Number
1976.56

Artwork Description

It is not always possible to identify the sitter in a miniature portrait, and research is still being done on some of the works in the Museum’s collection. Miniatures became popular in England during the early 1700s, commissioned by wealthy families on the occasions of births, engagements, weddings, and bereavements. These paintings, elaborately set into lockets or brooches, provided the wearer with a sentimental connection to a loved one. The back of the miniature often revealed a lock of the sitter’s hair, symbolizing affection, commitment, or loss. The daguerreotype, invented in 1839, provided a cheaper, faster alternative, and portrait miniatures grew less popular. At the turn of the twentieth century, with the establishment of the American Society of Miniature Painters, miniatures enjoyed a brief revival.