Portrait of Thomas Cutts Abbott

Art

Saco Museum

Name/Title

Entry/Object ID

2003.35.1

Description

Portrait of Thomas Cutts Abbott, a handsome, somber young man, formally posed in front of a wall overlooking the ocean. A brown ship is in full sail on a rough ocean in shades of greens. The sky is mostly wind-swept clouds in shades of grey with some dark blue sky. The young man has dark hair which is longer on the top with sideburns combed toward the face. He is wearing a black coat with the collar turned up and 3 gold buttons, a gold vest with upturned collar, and a white shirt with loosely-tied bow and a ruffle on the chest with a jeweled stick pin in gold and white. Thomas' parents were Samuel and Mary Abbott. Samuel was a doctor who died of consump- tion at the age of 32 in 1792. Mary succumbed to consumption less than four years later at the age of 33. Thomas and his older brother, Samuel, were raised by their grandparents, Colonel Thomas and Elizabeth Cutts. Samuel joined the Navy and was a midshipman on a frigate. He drowned in New London Harbor at the age of 24. Thomas also joined the Navy and was also a midshipman on a frigate. They were patrolling the north coast of Africa and were on the way home when Thomas suffered a heart attack and died at sea. He was about 27 years of age.

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil on Canvas

Made/Created

Artist

Possibly student of Joseph Wright of Darby painted in England

Date made

1812 - 1817

Dimensions

Height

36-3/8 in

Width

31-1/2 in

Depth

3-1/4 in

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Thomas was the son of Samuel Abbott and Mary Cutts, the daughter of wealthy merchant Thomas Cutts and his wife Elizabeth. Both of his parents died of consumption when Thomas was young, his father in 1792, and his mother four years later. Thomas and his older brother, Samuel, were raised by their Cutts grandparents. Samuel graduated from Bowdoin College in 1810 and afterwards joined the Navy. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, he was a captain of a brig stationed in New London, Connecticut. Samuel drowned in a tragic accident in New London Harbor on January 27, 1813; he was 24. Thomas followed his brother into the Navy. In 1815, he was a midshipman serving aboard the Constellation while on patrol in the Mediterranean as the United States continued to fight a prolonged undeclared war with the Barbary pirates. The Constellation was ending its cruise in late 1817 and was on its way back home when Thomas suffered a heart attack and died at sea at the age of 27. The Abbott's uncle, Dominicus Cutts, recorded the deaths of his nephews in his copy of George Folsom's History of Saco and Biddeford. Sadly, none of the four members of the Abbott family lived past the age of 33.

Label Type

Object Label

Label

Thomas Cutts Abbott (circa 1790-1817), circa 1812-1817 oil on canvas