$6,765
Benjamin Greenleaf (act. Massachusetts/New Hampshire, 1769-1821) Portrait of Alexander Wadsworth, Duxbury, Massachusetts. Unsigned. Oil reverse-painted on glass, the blue-eyed boy wears a white ruffled collar, on a green-blue background, 13 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (sight), in original black-painted and molded parcel-gilt frame. Condition: Minor losses. Note: A pencil inscription on the backboard reads: "F.G.F. [Frances Grey Ford] Wadsworth, Alexander's son." According to a typed transcription of a history written by Louisa Wadsworth (his granddaughter), Alexander Wadsworth (1808-1900) was born in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Sometime after the late 1820s, he became captain of the brig Favorite of Duxbury, owned by Draper and Weston, so beginning a long career as a seaman. He captained the packet ship New Jersey of the Black Cross Line; the Mattakeesett which ran in the cotton trade; the ship Manteo of Halifax; and the Seth Sprague , a 610-ton vessel which was fitted to sail to San Francisco in 1852. In San Francisco, his crew deserted to the gold mines in search of fortune. From San Francisco, with a "crew of beachcombers and broken down miners and a couple of homesick Duxbury men," the Seth Sprague sailed to Honolulu on its way to Calcutta, a frequent destination. His last ship was the William Wirt , which ran from New Orleans to Liverpool in the cotton trade. In 1860, he retired to his hometown of Duxbury. According to Louisa's letter, Alexander always claimed "that in all h Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2015-03-01
