Colonel William Allen

between 1756 and 1758

John Hesselius American, 1728-1778

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

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Provenance

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Published References

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About the Artwork

Title Colonel William Allen

Artwork Date between 1756 and 1758

Artist John Hesselius

Life Dates 1728-1778

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 36 × 28 1/2 inches (91.4 × 72.4 cm) Framed: 42 1/2 × 35 1/4 × 2 3/4 inches (108 × 89.5 × 7 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Gift of Dexter M. Ferry, Jr.

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 27.606

Markings

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Provenance

ca. 1758-1790 or 1793, the sitter, William Allen;
1790 or 1793-1831, his son, Colonel William Allen;
1831-1833, his sister, Anne Armistead Allen;
1833-1857, her daughter, Martha Armistead Edloe;
1857-1875, her son, William Griffin Orgain, who took the name of Allen;
his son, William Allen;
his widow, Mrs. William Allen.
1927, dealer, Robert C. Vose (Boston, Massachusetts, USA);
1927-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Burroughs, Clyde H. “Portraits by Wollaston and Harding.” Bulletin of the DIA 9, 2 (November 1927): p. 20.

Burroughs, Clyde H. “Early American Portraits at the Detroit Institute of Arts.” Art in America 17 (October 1929): p. 259.

Heil, Walter and Clyde H. Burroughs. Catalogue of Paintings in the Permanent Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit. Detroit, 1930, no. 409.

Burroughs, Alan. Limners and Likenesses: Three Centuries of American Painting. Cambridge, MA, 1936, p. 48 (fig. 44).

Survey of Colonial and Provincial Paintings. Exh. cat., University Gallery, University of Minnesota. 1939, p. 17, no. 45 (ill.). [attributed to Wollaston]

Shaw, Nancy Rivard, et al. American Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Volume 1: Works by Artists Born Before 1816. New York, 1991, pp. 124-125, no. 52.

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