Independence (Squire Jack Porter)

Frank Blackwell Mayer, Independence (Squire Jack Porter), 1858, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Harriet Lane Johnston, 1906.9.11
Copied Frank Blackwell Mayer, Independence (Squire Jack Porter), 1858, oil on paperboard, 12 x 15 7⁄8 in. (30.4 x 40.3 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Harriet Lane Johnston, 1906.9.11
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Artwork Details

Title
Independence (Squire Jack Porter)
Artist
Date
1858
Location
Dimensions
12 x 15 7⁄8 in. (30.4 x 40.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Harriet Lane Johnston
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Recreation — leisure — smoking
  • Allegory — quality — determination
  • Portrait male — Porter, Jack
  • Architecture Exterior — detail — porch
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
Object Number
1906.9.11
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1906.9.11

Artwork Description

Jack Porter, a veteran of the War of 1812 who made a handsome living from Pennsylvania's coal mines, is surrounded by handmade objects, including a corncob pipe, a roughly-hewn wooden bench, and his wife's knitting. As a self-sufficient landholder and businessman, "Squire Jack" embodied an independent and enduring spirit that, by the 1850s, had become an American ideal, celebrated by painters and writers alike. The squire takes his ease on the porch of a substantial home, dressed in a flowered vest, black cravat, and polished boots that signal the rewards of his hard work.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006