Lot Essay
Doctor James Lloyd (1728-1810), who sat for his portrait by Gilbert Stuart circa 1808, was a prominent physician in Boston from the mid-1700s until his death in 1810. Born to Henry and Rebecca Lloyd of Lloyd's Neck, on the north shore of Long Island, his earliest association with the Boston area was as a member of the class of 1747 of Harvard College.
After his years at Cambridge and despite his request to be sent to France to continue his education, Lloyd's father sent him to England where he was apprenticed to a London surgeon. He studied fastidiously so as to expedite his return to Boston. By 1752, though lacking a formal medical degree, Lloyd had started his own practice in Boston and quickly built a reputation as a highly skilled and capable doctor. Known for his unassuming nature and easy personality, Dr. Lloyd was a popular man and extended his healing hand equally to the poor and wealthy. He was an early specialist in obstetrics and midwifery and advocated the widespread use of vaccinations against disease, often donating hours of his time administering free medicine to poor children.
Throughout his lifetime Lloyd was an active member of the American Philosophical Society, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Humane Society of Massachusetts, the Boston Episcopal Charitable Society and the Boston Medical Dispensary. Regardless of his popularity or perhaps even bolstering it, Dr. Lloyd avoided politics at best and managed to elude election to public office. Unlike his brothers who retreated to the family's Long Island estate to avoid the Revolution, Dr. Lloyd remained in British-occupied Boston and treated casualties of war. Eventually Boston was re-taken by the Americans, but Dr. Lloyd was treated leniently due to his mild political associations. In 1790 Dr. Lloyd was awarded an honorary medical degree by Harvard University. Although Lloyd remained a shadowy figure in the development of the new republic, his son James later became a United States senator.
Portrait of Doctor James Lloyd was completed at the height of Stuart's career and was intended to hang in the Lloyd family home, eventually passing to Lloyd's son. The portrait reveals Stuart's mature style and is evidence of his understanding of fashionable English painters of the day. Stuart's careful use of light illuminates the sitter and gives life to his eyes--creating the same twinkle that must have captivated and reassured his patients.
After his years at Cambridge and despite his request to be sent to France to continue his education, Lloyd's father sent him to England where he was apprenticed to a London surgeon. He studied fastidiously so as to expedite his return to Boston. By 1752, though lacking a formal medical degree, Lloyd had started his own practice in Boston and quickly built a reputation as a highly skilled and capable doctor. Known for his unassuming nature and easy personality, Dr. Lloyd was a popular man and extended his healing hand equally to the poor and wealthy. He was an early specialist in obstetrics and midwifery and advocated the widespread use of vaccinations against disease, often donating hours of his time administering free medicine to poor children.
Throughout his lifetime Lloyd was an active member of the American Philosophical Society, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Humane Society of Massachusetts, the Boston Episcopal Charitable Society and the Boston Medical Dispensary. Regardless of his popularity or perhaps even bolstering it, Dr. Lloyd avoided politics at best and managed to elude election to public office. Unlike his brothers who retreated to the family's Long Island estate to avoid the Revolution, Dr. Lloyd remained in British-occupied Boston and treated casualties of war. Eventually Boston was re-taken by the Americans, but Dr. Lloyd was treated leniently due to his mild political associations. In 1790 Dr. Lloyd was awarded an honorary medical degree by Harvard University. Although Lloyd remained a shadowy figure in the development of the new republic, his son James later became a United States senator.
Portrait of Doctor James Lloyd was completed at the height of Stuart's career and was intended to hang in the Lloyd family home, eventually passing to Lloyd's son. The portrait reveals Stuart's mature style and is evidence of his understanding of fashionable English painters of the day. Stuart's careful use of light illuminates the sitter and gives life to his eyes--creating the same twinkle that must have captivated and reassured his patients.