Name/Title
Civil War OfficerEntry/Object ID
2011.13.1Description
Portrait showing a naval officer wearing a double-breasted uniform coat. The coat has a standing collar decorated in light blue edged with gold. He is wearing gold, braided epaulets. Addition gold braid decorates his sleeves. He is wearing white gloves and holding a sword in both of his hands. The piece is prominently signed in lower left in red: "T. W. Wood."Type of Painting
EaselArtwork Details
Medium
OilSubject
Military officerContext
The name of this naval officer has been lost to time, but the portrait is a fine example of Thomas Waterman Wood's artwork.
The son of a cabinetmaker, Thomas Waterman Wood was born in Montpelier, Vermont in 1823. He showed an early aptitude for painting and was apprenticed to Boston portrait artist Chester Harding.
In 1850 he married and built a carpenter gothic summer home in Montpelier. For much of the ensuing decade he traveled throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe while supporting himself through portrait painting.
Wood set up a permanent studio in New York City with a specialty on figure drawing. During and after the Civil War he started creating genre paintings which brought him national recognition. He was ultimately accepted in the National Academy of Design and served as its vice-president and president.
He continued to spend summers in Montpelier and considered Vermont his home. His portraits are very common throughout central Vermont with many held by the Vermont Historical Society. Upon his death he left funds to create the T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier. He chose to be buried in Montpelier's Green Mount Cemetery.Acquisition
Accession
2011.13Source or Donor
Buxton, J. Brooks (1934-2018)Acquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Artist
Wood, Thomas Waterman (1823-1903)Date made
1902Place
City
MontpelierCounty
Washington CountyState/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
PortraitNomenclature Primary Object Term
PaintingNomenclature Primary Object Term
PictureNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Dimension Description
Overall (unframed)Height
35-3/4 inWidth
30-7/8 inDepth
3 inInterpretative Labels
Label
Civil War Officer, 1902
Thomas Waterman Wood (1823-1903)
Montpelier, VT
Oil on canvas
Gift of J. Brooks Buxton, #A-944Label
The identity of the man in the portrait is unknown but we have determined that his uniform is a style adopted by the U.S. Army in 1902. Since Wood died in 1903 it would have been painted sometime during the last year of his life. According to his diaries for 1902 and 1903, Wood traveled between his studios in New York and Montpelier and also painted commissions in Springfield, MA. None of the names Wood mentioned in his diary could be matched to the uniformed officer in the painting.