Captain Isaac Foster
Joseph Badger·1755
Historical Context
Joseph Badger's portrait of Captain Isaac Foster, painted in 1755, represents the American colonial portrait tradition in New England. Badger, a Boston house painter and glazier who turned to portraiture, was one of the few portrait painters available in colonial Boston. His honest, direct likenesses of the New England mercantile and professional classes document pre-Revolutionary American society with unpretentious authenticity.
Technical Analysis
Badger's oil on bed ticking technique — using the sturdy fabric as canvas — reflects the practical resourcefulness of colonial American painters. The portrait shows his characteristic flat, direct handling with careful attention to the sitter's features despite limited formal training.
Provenance
Mrs. David Buffum, Walpole, New Hampshire, by 1873;[1] her son, Dr. Thomas Bellows Buffum, Walpole, New Hampshire, by 1918;[2] Annie Buffum Williams [Mrs. Nathan W. Williams], Northampton, Massachusetts, 1943.[3] Purchased in Boston before 16 May 1949 by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch;[4] gift 1957 to NGA. [1] Augustus Thorndike Perkins, _A Sketch of the Life and List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley_, Boston, 1873, 125; Mrs. Buffum is described as a descendant. Frank W. Bayley, _The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley_, Boston, 1915, 108-109 repeats Perkins's information. [2] Lawrence Park, _Joseph Badger (1708-1765), And a Descriptive List of some of his Works_, Boston, 1918, 14; Historical Records Survey 1942, 8. [3] Letter from Mrs. Williams to the Frick Art Reference Library, 28 November 1943. [4] A treatment report made for the Garbisches by conservators Sheldon and Caroline Keck notes that the Kecks received the painting on 16 May 1949. An undated information sheet compiled for the Garbisches states that the painting was acquired in Boston. (Both documents are in NGA curatorial files.)
