Colonel John Cox
Medium
Painting-Miniature
Classification
Painting-Miniature
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer
Accession Number
1999.27.32
Tags
About this artwork
According to George Washingtonâs diary, Colonel John Cox sat for the finishing touches on this miniature at Valley Forge on April 23, 1778. At the time, Peale was a captain in the same company. Cox took the oath of allegiance at Valley Forge earlier that year, and served as the companyâs assistant quartermaster general. A Philadelphia merchant, Cox owned Batsto Furnace in New Jersey, which produced munitions for the Continental army. Conservation of this miniature was made possible through a...
About the Artist
Charles Willson Peale · 1741–1827
Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) was an American painter, museum founder, naturalist, and inventor who became the most important American portraitist of the Revolutionary era and a central figure in the cultural life of the young republic. Born in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, he initially trained as a saddler before turning to painting, studying briefly with John Singleton Copley in Boston and ...