Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
58.P.19 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Portrait of Mathew Carey |
Artist |
Smith, Thomas Henry |
Artist 2 |
Neagle, John |
Date |
1844 |
Description |
Half-length portrait of sitting figure with body turned to his right and head facing forward. Figure has a ruddy complexion, thinning close-cropped brown hair, deeply set eyes with a prominent brow, and wears a black three-piece suit with a white jabot. The background of the painting is a nondescript landscape seen through a nondescript interior. To the left of the sitter is a small inscription: "T. Henry Smith / after / John Neagle / 1844". Based on a painting by John Neagle (ca. 1825). |
Label |
Thomas Henry Smith painted this portrait of Mathew Carey in 1844 after an original composition by John Neagle in the collection of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Born in Ireland, Carey immigrated to Philadelphia in 1784. With meager start-up funds from the Marquis de Lafayette, he developed a printing business that eventually issued over 1,500 works – many of which he wrote himself. Carey, one of the most important printers working in the early republic, was affiliated with major literary, political, religious, and economic figures, ranging from Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette to Noah Webster, Henry Clay, and Sarah Josepha Hale. While none of the publications that Carey edited were particularly profitable (including the "Pennsylvania Herald," "Columbian Magazine," and "American Museum"), they reached a wide audience. |
Medium |
Oil on canvas |
Dimensions |
H-41 W-36 inches |
Dimension Details |
Framed |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of Henry Carey Baird, 5 May 1893. |
Search Terms |
19th century nineteenth century painting printing |