Richard [Nicholls] Harison / Harrison - Onondaga and Oswego ...

accomplishments regarding trade and commerce during his term as Secretary. Within a month of his appointment, Hamilton
proposed the creation of a seagoing branch of the military to discourage smuggling and enhance tax collections and less than a
year later, Congress authorized the construction of the United States Revenue-Marine, the precursor to the United States Coast
Guard. Hamilton also played a crucial role in creating the United States Navy (the Naval Act of 1794) which protected the cargoes of
American merchants. In his final year in office, he drafted the Jay Treaty, a series of negotiations and demands to cease British
seizure of United States ships trading with the West Indies. The treaty was controversial due to its non-aggressive stance against
British offenses, and Washington was hesitant to sign. Hamilton, however, adamant to maintain friendly relations with Great Britain,
advised Washington privately that the treaty would maintain peace. Washington signed the treaty on August 14, 1795. Ellen G.
Miles observes: “…it may be that if the purpose of the Lansdowne portrait commission was to thank Lord Lansdowne for his support
of the American cause during the revolution as well as the signing of the Jay Treaty, this gift from Constable, a New York merchanttrader,
to Hamilton, a leading New York Federalist, recognizes Hamilton’s support of the treaty” (Gilbert Stuart, New York, 2004, p.
184).
Alexander Hamilton (figure 1) along with James Madison and Thomas Jefferson comprised the powerful triumvirate that acted as
Washington’s advisors both on the battlefield and in the political arena. Joseph J. Ellis paints a compelling portrait of the former:
“Alexander Hamilton was the third member of this talented trinity, in terms of sheer brainpower probably the brightest of the lot.
While Madison and Jefferson had come up through the Virginia school of politics, which put a premium on an understated style that
emphasized indirection and stealth, Hamilton had come out of nowhere (actually impoverished origins in the Caribbean), which
produced a dashing, out-of-my-way style that imposed itself ostentatiously, much in the manner of the bayonet charge he had led at
Yorktown. As Washington’s aide-de-camp during the war, Hamilton had occasionally shown himself to be a somewhat feisty and
headstrong surrogate son, always searching for an independent command beyond Washington’s shadow. But his loyalty to his
mentor was unquestioned, and his affinity for the way Washington thought was unequaled” (His Excellency, New York, 2005, p.
199).
It was during his service in the army that Hamilton further developed his vehement support for a strong, central government. After
participating in the siege at Yorktown in 1781, which effectively ended the American Revolution, Hamilton served as a member of
the Continental Congress from 1782-83, and then retired to open a law office in New York. He returned to politics in 1786 and
focused his career on refuting the Articles of the Confederation and arguing for the supreme authority of a federal government, most
famously at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he signed the Constitution of the United States of America.
To defend this seminal document, he co-authored the Federalist Papers with John Jay and James Madison, which are today
considered a classic of political literature.
In 1880, Henry E. Pierrepont, William Constable’s grandson, speculated on the circumstances that surrounded the gift of
Washington’s portrait to Hamilton. He writes: “My grandfather in his letters speaks of his obligations to his counsel Genl. H. for his
valuable legal services. Probably this was what prompted the gift of the picture...” (letter to George C. Mason, reprinted in Bulletin of
the New York Public Library, New York, 1975, p. 70). Constable and Hamilton both arrived in New York almost simultaneously.
Hamilton established his law firm in 1783, while in 1784, Constable opened a successful trading business with his brother and a
business partner (John Rucker), which included dealings with China. Their company became one of the greatest merchant houses
in New York in the 1790s and Constable became one of the wealthiest merchants, eventually owning a six hundred ton ship named
America. Constable and Hamilton not only maintained a professional relationship, but frequently socialized. In his History of Lewis
County, New York, Franklin Hough quoted the Honorable Ogden Edward’s account of Constable: “I first saw him in 1796, at a dinner
party. Among the distinguished persons present were General Hamilton, Colonel Burr and Volney. Yet, even in such good company,
all eyes and ears were turned to him, and he appeared to be the master spirit…his most intimate associates were Jay and Hamilton,
and Robert Morris, and other master spirits of the time…he was an aid to the great and good Lafayette…He lived in splendid style”
(Syracuse, New York, 1883).
The present portrait of Washington is one of three works commissioned by Constable in 1797 and all painted about the same time.
The first is a replica of the Lansdowne portrait (Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York), the second is a portrait of Constable himself
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), and the third is the present half-length portrait of Washington. This half-length portrait
was obviously based in part on the Lansdowne, and Miles observes: “As in the Lansdowne portrait, the president is dressed in a
black velvet suit and white lace shirt ruffles. His powdered hair is tied in a queue with a saw-toothed black ribbon. He is seated in a
chair similar to the one behind him in the Lansdowne portrait, and across him rests a similar sword with gold ribbon. And in the near
background are a masonry wall with a column and a swirling drape with two tassels. In other respects the image is quite unlike the
Lansdowne: Washington is seated, and he holds a document, illegible except for his signature, G. Washington. The background
seascape is unprecedented in Stuart’s portraits of Washington. While the intermediary curtain and column in the background scene
appear to be based on Pierre-Imbert Drevet’s engraving of Hyacinthe Rigaud’s portrait of Samuel Bernard (figure 2), closer
examination suggests that the seascape may portray a specific event” (Gilbert Stuart, p. 184). In depicting Washington half length
and seated, Stuart captures his singularly commanding presence and bulk. Washington was a famously large man and in Stuart’s
portrait he occupies nearly half the compositional space, the three dimensionality of his pose creating an impression of incorruptible
solidity and quiet confidence. While the rich opacity of Washington’s black velvet suit reinforces his physical density, it is Stuart’s
carefully worked out geometric structure, especially the underlying use of the pyramid for Washington’s figure, which helps to
subliminally communicate to the viewer Washington’s unwavering stability and supreme authority.
92