Lot 1148: Thomas Cheesman (1760-1834) after John Trumbull (1756-1843) Fine American and European Furniture, Silver, Folk and Decorative Arts and Clocks

General Washington, August 1, 1796 Engraving Published by A.C. de Poggi, No. 91 New Bond Street, London The back of frame bears a copy of The Courier and Evening Gazette (Nov. 17, 1796) advertising this print after Trumbull's painting. 25 1/2 x 17 3/8in. (64.8 x 44.1cm)

64.8 x 44.1cm

This engraving, published in London, was the first to reproduce Trumbull's General Washington at Trenton (1792, collection of Yale University). Originally commissioned by the city of Charleston, North Carolina, the portrait was rejected, since it did not meet the city's desire for a more peaceful and "matter-of-fact" likeness. Trumbull, however, considered it the "best certainly of those which I painted, and the best, in my estimation, which exists, in his heroic military character." (John Trumbull, Autobiography, Reminiscences and Letters of John Trumbull from 1756 to 1841 (New York and London: Wiley & Putnam, 1841), p. 166.) John Trumbull was perhaps the most important history painter in America during the late 18th and early 19th century. After studying with Benjamin West in London, Trumbull is credited with bringing the grand style of history painting to the United States. British engraver, Thomas Cheesman, was awarded a medal by the Society of Arts in London for his engraving of Benjamin West's The Plague Stayed by the Repentance of David (painted in 1813).