Benjamin Blyth (1746–1787)
Benjamin Blyth was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1746 and was one of the best known and most successful portraitists on the North Shore from the mid-1760s through the early 1780s. While Blyth sometimes worked in oil, his preferred medium was pastel. He found a ready clientele amongst wealthy shipowners and merchants throughout the region and here on Cape Ann.
Benjamin Blyth (1746–1787)
Benjamin Blyth was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1746 and was one of the best known and most successful portraitists on the North Shore from the mid-1760s through the early 1780s. While Blyth sometimes worked in oil, his preferred medium was pastel. He found a ready clientele amongst wealthy shipowners and merchants throughout the region and here on Cape Ann.
Selected Works by Benjamin Blyth
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Portrait of Elizabeth Rogers Low
This portrait is on display in the Cape Ann Gallery alongside a portrait of John Somes (1745–1816), also of Gloucester.
Artist: Benjamin Blyth Date of Work: c. 1780 Medium: Pastel and paper mounted on canvas Accession Number: 2333.3 Credit Line: Gift of the Estate of Elizabeth Alling, 1982 Collections: Faces of Cape Ann: Portraits |
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Portrait of Captain John Somes
John Somes (1745–1816), shown in a dark jacket with large buttons and a lacy white shirt with a high collar, was born in Gloucester in 1745, a son of Abraham and Martha (Emerson) Somes. He served as commander of the privateer Swallow during the Revolutionary War, was the first president of the Gloucester Bank (founded in 1786) and a state representative. Somes kept a tavern in Gloucester's Harbor Village during the immediately after the Revolution. The undertaking earned him the nickname "Old Toby," a reference to a mug typically used for ale that was modeled in the shape of a stout old man, often with a tri-cornered hat.
This portrait is on display in the Cape Ann Gallery alongside a portrait of Elizabeth Rogers Low (1764–1810), also of Gloucester.
Artist: Benjamin Blyth Date of Work: c. 1780 Medium: Pastel and paper mounted on canvas Accession Number: 1596 Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Ranch from the Estate of Josephine Dolliver Collections: Faces of Cape Ann: Portraits |
View CAM's Rights and Reproduction policy
Selected Works by Benjamin Blyth
|
Portrait of Elizabeth Rogers Low
This portrait is on display in the Cape Ann Gallery alongside a portrait of John Somes (1745–1816), also of Gloucester.
Artist: Benjamin Blyth Date of Work: c. 1780 Medium: Pastel and paper mounted on canvas Accession Number: 2333.3 Credit Line: Gift of the Estate of Elizabeth Alling, 1982 Collections: Faces of Cape Ann: Portraits |
|
Portrait of Captain John Somes
John Somes (1745–1816), shown in a dark jacket with large buttons and a lacy white shirt with a high collar, was born in Gloucester in 1745, a son of Abraham and Martha (Emerson) Somes. He served as commander of the privateer Swallow during the Revolutionary War, was the first president of the Gloucester Bank (founded in 1786) and a state representative. Somes kept a tavern in Gloucester's Harbor Village during the immediately after the Revolution. The undertaking earned him the nickname "Old Toby," a reference to a mug typically used for ale that was modeled in the shape of a stout old man, often with a tri-cornered hat.
This portrait is on display in the Cape Ann Gallery alongside a portrait of Elizabeth Rogers Low (1764–1810), also of Gloucester.
Artist: Benjamin Blyth Date of Work: c. 1780 Medium: Pastel and paper mounted on canvas Accession Number: 1596 Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Ranch from the Estate of Josephine Dolliver Collections: Faces of Cape Ann: Portraits |
View CAM's Rights and Reproduction policy