(Washington, D.C./Philadelphia/New York, 1778-1830)

Portrait of a Handsome Gentleman, unsigned, illegible inscriptions panel verso, oil on poplar panel, 7-1/2 x 6 in. painted oval; original carved gilt wood frame, 12 x 11 in.

Provenance: Sumpter Priddy, Alexandria, Virginia in August 2006 (accompanied by copy of receipt); From the Collection of Elbert H. Parsons, Jr., Huntsville, Alabama

Note: Joseph Wood was an important early nineteenth century miniature painter. Born in New York, he began his career in partnership with John Wesley Jarvis. In 1813, he moved to Philadelphia, where he became an associate of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, exhibiting there until he moved to Washington, D.C. in 1816. He worked in the Capital for the rest of his life, and became Washington's first resident artist of note, painting important figures including Chief Justice John Marshall, Henry Clary, Daniel Webster, Andrew Jackson, and President and Mrs. James Madison.