Thomas Hopkinson

Robert Feke, Thomas Hopkinson, 1746, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, George Buchanan Coale Collection, 1926.6.2
Copied Robert Feke, Thomas Hopkinson, 1746, oil on canvas, overall: 49 3⁄4 x 39 5⁄8 in. (126.5 x 100.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, George Buchanan Coale Collection, 1926.6.2
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Artwork Details

Title
Thomas Hopkinson
Artist
Date
1746
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
overall: 49 3⁄4 x 39 5⁄8 in. (126.5 x 100.5 cm)
Credit Line
George Buchanan Coale Collection
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Occupation — other — aristocrat
  • Portrait male — Hopkinson, Thomas
Object Number
1926.6.2
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1926.6.2

Artwork Description

Thomas Hopkinson wears a full-bottomed wig and a sword, and he stands before a balustrade and a grove of pruned cypresses. But these European props do not tell the whole story. Hopkinson was also an ambitious citizen of a new society interested in new discoveries. He studied law in England but carved out a career for himself in Philadelphia, where he attained the rank of judge and, when he was not in court, helped Benjamin Franklin in his experiments with electricity.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006