Jeremiah Belknap (c. 1758): Art, History and Details

Jeremiah Belknap (c. 1758) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Joseph Badger (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1708–1765).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Lacking formal training, Badger got his start painting houses and signs in Boston, then shifted his focus to accommodate the increasing market for portraits in the colonies. Jeremiah Belknap is shown here at about 7 years old, but his attire gives him the appearance of a miniature adult. The artist’s portraits of children often include fruit and animals—the ripening peach in Belknap’s right hand suggests maturation, while the dog at his feet symbolizes loyalty.

Object facts

• Title: Jeremiah Belknap
• Date: c. 1758
• Creator attribution: Joseph Badger (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1708–1765)
• Culture: America
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 121.9 x 97.2 x 7.6 cm (48 x 38 1/4 x 3 in.); Unframed: 107 x 84 cm (42 1/8 x 33 1/16 in.)
• Collection: American - Painting
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1919.1016

A detail from the museum

Badger was also a glazier, a tradesman who fits glass into doors and windows.

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• Pittsburgh, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Exhibition of Early American Portraits (20 January-8 March 1925)
• "Accessions." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art 6, no. 5 (1919): 97-98.
• L. P. "Portrait of Jeremiah Belknap by Joseph Badger." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art 6, no. 7/8 (1919): 123-25.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.