Thomas Hopkinson

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: Robert Feke
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: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Portrait male — Hopkinson, Thomas
Occupation — other — aristocrat
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