Collections Corner - William Truman Stoddert Portrait Miniature

Hello everyone, welcome to a new installment of Collections Corner. I'm Emily Parsons, Deputy Director and Curator for the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati. Among the treasures of our museum collections are several portrait miniatures painted by Charles Wilson Peale, the most important American artist of the Revolutionary War. Portrait miniatures were intimate keepsakes given by the sitter to a loved one to mark important milestones and to convey their affection. During the American Revolution, soldiers sat for these small portraits before leaving home or while serving in the military. This example pictures First Lieutenant William Truman Stoddart of the Maryland Continental Line who commissioned Peale to paint his portrait about 1778. Born into a wealthy family in Charles County, Maryland, William Truman Stoddart joined the Continental Army in 1776 at the age of 17. He was commissioned a junior officer in the 5th Maryland Regiment which would fight in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Camden. He also served as brigade major to his uncle, General William Smallwood, for two years beginning in mid-1777. During that time, Quaker diarist Sally Wister of Philadelphia wrote about Stoddart. He cannot be extolled for the graces of person, but for those of the mind he may justly be celebrated. He is large in his person, manly, and an engaging countenance. In this portrait, painted in watercolor on a thin piece of ivory, Stoddart is depicted wearing the uniform of an infantry officer in the Maryland Continental Line, including a blue coat with red facings and silver buttons, two silver trimmed red shoulder straps, a white waistcoat, a red cape, and a rounded black hat with a black feather. The gilt copper locket-style case, which is probably not original, features a plaid of woven hair on the back with the initials WTS in sheet gold. Lieutenant Stoddart probably commissioned this miniature as a gift for his wife, Sarah, who could have worn it as a pendant. Charles Wilson Peale, himself a soldier in the American Army of the Revolution, painted more than 130 miniatures during the war. He painted them in the field in a short amount of time with fine detail, especially of military uniforms, that created a sense of realism and immediacy. These miniatures show us what the men of George Washington's army looked like, and in cases like William Truman's Stoddart are the only record of the faces of the men who fought for American independence. To see more portrait miniatures and other objects in our collections, visit our website at www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org.