Beschreibung:

After Edward Savage (American, 1761-1817). Miniature portrait on ivory, 2 x 1.5 in., placed in a 6 x 5 in. frame. Ca 1800s-1830s. Portrait is backed with trimmed papers including: inked identification Gen'l Washington; printed calling card of Mr. A. Nicholl; and printed calling card of Major Macan, inked Stephen's Green W. The frame is backed with: coated wax stock printed Mrs. Thomas Macan / Miss Oldfields / Miss Macan and inked 112 Stephen's Green West; an inked paper reading General Washington / (?) / (M)iniature (?) / General Murray (at?) / Tunbridge Wells; and a printed page of text originally from the Edinburgh Review, No. 135, titled “On the Times of George the Third and George the Fourth,” by Lieutenant General Herbert Taylor, published 1838, but reprinted several times elsewhere during 1838 and 1839. The inscriptions clearly indicate portrait spent a good part of its history in the British Isles, and was in the possession of a family with several members who were contemporaries of Washington in the United States, but the trail is hard to trace. For example, the address 112 Stephen's Green West is that of the Dublin Unitarian Church in central Dublin, Ireland, which still stands, and its website's history page states prominently that the site was purchased in the 1850s with a bequest by Thomas Wilson, whose father served as aide-de-camp for General George Washington in the American War of Independence. Since we know the portrait spent some time at this address in Ireland, we can move on to the issue of Major Thomas Macan, who is mentioned in Irish records of that time was a wealthy man from County Louth. No record of his military service exists, but he is noted in several Irish genealogy texts and a church history or County Louth as having purchased the Craven Estate in 1837, which is near the town of Greenmount, just 50 miles from Dublin. He served as a churchwarden in the Kilsaran Union of Parishes in the years 1839 and 1844, and his only child was a daughter named Anne-Margaret. As this was the end of the Macan male line, they are summarized thusly: The Macans of Drumcashel came from a well-known Armagh family, members of which were Mayors or Sovereigns of Armagh from 1759-1797. They also acted as agents for the Primates. The first Macan who settled in this district was Turner Macan, High Sheriff 1802, who rented Grennmount, which was occupied in 1789 by Turner Camac, and in 1790 by Sir George Foster, Bart. This information is important as it helps identify the General Murray as Major General James Patrick Murray (1782-1834). His father, James Murray (1721-1794), was appointed a major in the 15 Foot Regiment in 1750 while in Ireland and came to North America in 1757. He commanded regiments in the French and Indian Wars, where Washington held his first commands, and served as military and civil governor of Quebec (1759-1768). During the American Revolution, Murray returned to Europe to defend a Mediterranean fort, where his wife gave birth to their son. James Patrick Murray was elected an MP from the Isle of Wight in 1802 but vacated his seat in 1803. From there he attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, southeast of London. That means that General Murray and the painting can be independently confirmed to be in West Kent in 1803, as Tunbridge Wells and the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich are separated by only 30 miles, perhaps pointing to the acquisition of the painting. Further, its path to Ireland can be explained. In 1804 Murray purchased a majority in the 66th Foot Regiment, which was stationed in several parts of Ireland. A few years later they were sent to Portugal where his right arm was destroyed by a musket ball during a gallant fight at Douro, for which he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and transferred back to Ireland upon regaining his health in 1809. He was in Athlone, Ireland (75 miles west of Dublin), from 1811 until his death in 1834, serving as Assistant Adjutant General, Colonel, and