Attributed to William Willard (Sturbridge and Boston, 1818-1904) Portrait of Alfred Richardson (1793-1851)

Description:

Attributed to William Willard (Sturbridge and Boston, 1818-1904)

Portrait of Alfred Richardson (1793-1851), Sturbridge, Massachusetts, c. 1835. Unsigned. Oil on canvas, depicting Richardson seated on a classical chair in front of a red draped window with a column, he rests his arm on a table with a pewter inkwell, paper, and quill pen; his hand grips a paper with notations, he wears a dark jacket with high white collar and cravat, in original frame, 32 1/4 x 26 1/2 in. Condition: good, unrestored.

Provenance: Direct family descent from the sitter, Alfred Richardson, who was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts (next to Sturbridge). His house was moved to join the collections of the outdoor living history museum called Old Sturbridge Village. This museum depicts daily New England life in the 1830's. The Richardson house is known as the "Parsonage". Richardson married Rebecca Gleason in 1820. He became a merchant in the lumber business with his brother in East Boston.

Note: William Willard was a portrait painter who was born in Sturbridge, Massachusetts in 1819, and died there in 1904. He was active in Boston at mid-century, exhibiting at the Boston Athenaeum. Other portraits he did of well-known Boston gentlemen hang at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Estimate $3,000-5,000

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