Painting (Portrait)

Description

A house painter and self-taught portraitist, Badger studied the works of English-trained John Smibert and began painting portraits in Boston by the early 1740s. This example is an accomplished portrait, reflecting the artist’s maturity. Jones, about 20-years-old in this depiction, was the son of a wealthy New Haven, CT merchant. He followed his father into the shipping business. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, he moved to Boston where he worked for independence. When British forces sacked New Haven in July 1779, they broke into Jones’ house and bayoneted the portrait, though the slice in the canvas has been concealed by later conservation.