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Description: | Oil on canvas. Merchant Samuel Vaughan has an air of relaxed, comfortable prosperity as he sits at his writing desk. The books next to him (one of which bears his initials and the date 1760) are probably ledgers containing accounts of his business.
Artist Robert Edge Pine painted this pair of portraits in London, where Samuel Vaughan, a West Indian trader and planter, had settled and become a prominent businessman. Vaughan’s wife, Sarah, was the daughter of Benjamin Hallowell of Boston, Massachusetts. Vaughan became one of Pine's most important patrons and he, his wife and all of their eleven children sat to the artist.
In 1783 Vaughan moved to Philadelphia, joining his son, John, who worked in the Philadelphia branch of the family firm. Vaughan remained until 1790, when he returned to London. Vaughan remained in contact with Pine after relocating to the United States. He offered the artist considerable assistance when Pine also reached America in 1783. Pine also painted a portrait of Vaughan in Philadelphia, in about 1785. This later portrait was presented to the American Philosophical Society (where it remains) by the sitter’s son, John. | Subjects: | philosopher wig Samuel Vaughan paper American male portrait quill desk engineering 18th century costume book ink pot/ink stand trader coat man | Temporal: | 1760 | Source: | Government Art Collection | Creator: | Robert Edge Pine | Identifier: | http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?... | Go to resource |
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