![George GRAHAM, engraver. John Adams. President of the United States of America. [Philadelphia:] Dr. John Berkeanhead, [c. 1797-1801.]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2021/NYR/2021_NYR_18947_0319_000(george_graham_engraver_john_adams_president_of_the_united_states_of_am122704).jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
George GRAHAM, engraver. John Adams. President of the United States of America. [Philadelphia:] Dr. John Berkeanhead, [c. 1797-1800.]
"Hail! Noble Chief! Protector of the cause of purest Freedom Founded on the Laws." This portrait may have been commissioned in the wake of the XYZ Affair or in the run-up to Adams's unsuccessful 1800 reelection effort. Adams stands holding the "Federal Constitution" and a sword on his hip and at the upper right the Temple of Fame is visible on a hilltop. "Dr. John Berkeanhead" may be John Latham Berkenhead, a London-trained organist and composer who arrived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire around 1793 and was known to have been active during Adams's presidency. (Advertisement, Oracle of the Day, Portsmouth, N.H., 4 December 1793, p. 4; The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 29, p. xl). Rare. We are aware of three other copies of this engraving including those housed at the National Portrait Gallery and the American Antiquarian Society. The other is known from a reference to a copy exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston early in the last century (A Descriptive Catalogue of Early Engraving in America, December 12, 1904 - February 5, 1905 (1904) p. 41). Stauffer 1160.
Mezzotint. Plate: 18 15/16 x 10 15/16 in (480 x 278mm), sheet: 19 7/8 x 12 1/8 in (507 x 308mm). (Mounted at top margin to a board, margins repaired.) Framed.
"Hail! Noble Chief! Protector of the cause of purest Freedom Founded on the Laws." This portrait may have been commissioned in the wake of the XYZ Affair or in the run-up to Adams's unsuccessful 1800 reelection effort. Adams stands holding the "Federal Constitution" and a sword on his hip and at the upper right the Temple of Fame is visible on a hilltop. "Dr. John Berkeanhead" may be John Latham Berkenhead, a London-trained organist and composer who arrived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire around 1793 and was known to have been active during Adams's presidency. (Advertisement, Oracle of the Day, Portsmouth, N.H., 4 December 1793, p. 4; The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 29, p. xl). Rare. We are aware of three other copies of this engraving including those housed at the National Portrait Gallery and the American Antiquarian Society. The other is known from a reference to a copy exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston early in the last century (A Descriptive Catalogue of Early Engraving in America, December 12, 1904 - February 5, 1905 (1904) p. 41). Stauffer 1160.
Mezzotint. Plate: 18 15/16 x 10 15/16 in (480 x 278mm), sheet: 19 7/8 x 12 1/8 in (507 x 308mm). (Mounted at top margin to a board, margins repaired.) Framed.