(American, 1755-1828)

Portrait of Samuel Parkman, c. 1807, unsigned, oil on canvas, 30-1/4 x 25-1/4 in.; period carved gilt wood and composition frame, 36-1/2 x 31-3/4 in.

Provenance: From the Collection of Salem Academy and College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Brunk Auctions, May 18, 2019, sold for $14,400; Private Collection

Literature:  Rudge, William Edwin. Gilbert Stuart, an Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works Compiled by Lawrence Park [New York]: [W.E. Rudge], 1926.,  ill. page 370, vol. IV, #608.; discussed page 570, vol. II.  

In the Rudge edition, #608 is described in depth, and illustrated (see above).  The painting discussed there is oil on panel. The portrait shown here, nearly identical in every way to the Parkman portrait illustrated on page 608, is oil on canvas, and there are very slight differences in the treatment of the white neckcloth.  At the end of the entry on page 570, the author notes that "a copy is owned by Mrs. James Means". This painting is quite possibly the copy once owned my Mrs. Means. In addition, Rudge notes that  Stuart painted Mr. Parkman again, later in life (#609, p. 571, not illustrated), but that this one was "...very inferior to the first portrait".

At the age of 55, Mr. Parkman commissioned Gilbert Stuart to paint a full length portrait of George Washington, the "Washington at Dorchester Heights" that is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.