Lot 427
American or Continental School, c. 1800-1803, "Portrait of an Auburn- Haired Gentleman Wearing the Spanish Order of Santiago, and Holding an Issue of the Philadelphia Gazette, oil on canvas, 29 in. x 23 1/2 in., in a period gessoed and gilded cove frame. E6000-8000 Note: The well-known and influential "Philadelphia Gazette and Daily Advertiser" the early newspaper of record of the American Congress, was published under this name from June 18, 1800 to December 31, 1802, which are evidently the years within (or very soon after) which this impressive portrait was painted. Because of the sitter's reddish hair and prominent display of the paper, the portrait might possibly represent Andrew Brown, Jr., son of the Irish-born founder and publisher of the paper, Andrew Brown, Sr. (c. 1744-1797); the junior Brown was himself the paper's editor from 1797 to September 29, 1801. The Order of Santiago (St. James), which this sitter prominently wears twice, both in an embroidery and on an enameled badge and the gold-braided uniform coat appear Spanish, and it is thus plausible that the portrait may represent an ambassador or diplomat of Spain, accredited to the United States government in Philadelphia, before its transfer to Washington in the fall of 1800.
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