Adam Reigart Jr. (original catalog description was Capt. John Steele)
Description
Oil portrait on canvas of Adam Reigart, Jr. (1765-1844). (Original catalog description was: "Painted portrait of Captain John Steele by Jacob Eichholtz". This ID correction approved by Tom Ryan).
Half-length male figure, faces slightly to left, gray hair brushed forward over forehead in thin wisps, long sideburns, his left ear visible; white turned down collar, light color waistcoat and white stock and frill. Black double-breasted coat. Plain brown background.
Modern wood frame 1.75" wide, painted black with gold beaded inner edge.
See G.86.09.2 for an identical oil on canvas portrait of Reigart by Eichholtz. (On art racks)
Painting has strong tears and needs cleaning. This is the condition in which it was received. Large irregular tear 7.5" x 4/5" across his left chest & shoulder. Small 1" x 1/2" tear above shoulder. Another irregular tear 2" x 1" on right shoulder. Straight line dent w/ some tearing below this. Another straight line dent 3.5" to left of head.and a 1"-long dent with tear above head. Extensive craquelure, esp. in upper 2/3.
Modern wood frame 1.75" wide is painted black with gold beading on inner edge. Round, blue sticker at top back of stretcher reads: "(W)alnut Lan(e) / Art Shop / German(town) / Philad(elphia).
Oil sketch of man's head, "Lord Byron" said to have hung in the studio of Jacob Eichholtz, is a copy of a Byron portrait painted by Sully This copy is reportedly an early example of Jacob Eichholtz.
"From Sully's Byron our Lancaster artist made several copies..." ( 'Jacob Eichholtz/ 1776-1848,' by Rebecca J. Beal:1969, p.30)
Portrait of three sons of Jacob Eichholtz, Henry Clay Eichholtz, Lavallyn Barry Eichholtz, and Robert Lindsay Eichholtz.
Jacob Eichholtz and his second wife, Catherine Trissler Eichholtz, named their three youngest children after prominent Kentucky senator and former secretary of state Henry Clay; Baltimore banker Lavallyn Barry; and beloved son-in-law and Philadelphia bookseller Robert Lindsay.
The father of 13 children, Eichholtz portrayed his three youngest with an immediacy and grace that rivals his finest work. Captured just four years prior to the artist's death, these angelic faces are rendered through the eyes of a father's's love and affection. - Thomas Ryan, President and CEO of LancasterHistory.org
Mr. Ellmaker, painted by Jacob Eichholtz (1825-1830); oil on canvas, framed dimensions 38 1/2 " x 33 3/4."
Nathaniel Ellmaker (1751-1837), though he lived into the first third of the nineteenth century, remained a man of the eighteenth century. He was content having lived most of his life in Lancaster County making an occasional foray to Philadelphia. Portrayed near his eightieth year, this prosperous Leacock Township farmer helped supply revolutionary forces during the War for Independence, attended the signing of the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia, and served in the Pennsylvania Senate beginning in 1796.
Ellmaker, like many of his wealthy contemporaries, owned enslaved Africans as demonstrated by the receipt he received when he purchased 'York," a boy aged 6 years, in 1782. Most slaveholders in Lancaster County had only a few enslaved persons, although several large landowners with many acres of farmland owned larger numbers. Yet, enslaved blacks were also to be found in Lancaster City serving in households, taverns, and in a variety of trades and businesses alongside their owners.
Oil on wood panel. Profile painting, half length, of a man facing left (photo backwards) wearing black coat and white collar. Clean-shaven with sandy red hair. Brownish grey background.
Inscriptions: Handwritten in pencil on back of panel is "Jacob Leman / 1756-1836 / Artist Jacob Eich(h)oltz". Old paper sticker at top of frame is handwritten in ink: "Jacob Leman. / Painted by - Born 1756 died 1836 / Artist Jacob Eich(h)oltz. Remainder at bottom is missing. Newer paper label at frame bottom is: "Jacob Leman (1756-1835) by Jacob Eichholtz / #449 in 'Jacob Eichholtz' by / Rebecca J. Beal / See Ellis & Evans 'History of / Lancaster County', p. 523 / W.S." The number G.80.130.1 is painted twice at top right, on frame and panel. This was a Heritage Center number, due to an ownership dispute. See File for history.
Provenance
Beal writes on page 133, "Portrait descended in Leman family to Miss Adelia Leman, 1857-1947; Grover C. Waitz, antique dealer, Lancaster; purchased by Mr. and Mrs. William Shand, Lancaster."
Painting is mounted in gold frame, held in place with two mending plates at sides. Remnant of old paper dust cover on back along frame. Conserved in 2002.
