Wentworth, Thomas Hanford - portrait of a boy

This miniature portrait is signed at the lower right "Tos Wentworth pinxit 1848". Thomas Hanford Wentworth (15 Mar 1781- 18 Dec 1849) worked in the North East USA and Canada. This must therefore be one of his last portraits, as he died in 1849.

All the area inside the frame is painted, including the apparent oval mount. It is probably on card and the oval is 120mm x 95mm.

He was born at Norwalk, CT the son of Josiah and Polly Wentworth, and was christened at Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada 10 Aug 1790. He moved to Utica, and later to Oswego, NY where he died.

His wife was Hannah M Smith and they had a son, Robert Smith Wentworth (14 Apr 1812-7 Nov 1898) born at Oswego, NY. Robert was in the Navy from 1832 to 1838; sergeant of Marine Guard on Flag Ship, Clerk at Navy Yard, and Secretary to Commandant at Pensacola, Fla; in 1838, Magistrate of Escambia County, Fla. In 1846 he was Assistant Quartermaster at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; in 1847, Assessor of Lafayette County, Missouri. After 1847, he lived in St. Louis, and in 1872 was living at Trinidad, Colorado.

Robert married first, at Pensacola, Florida, May 1838, Mary E. Warren, daughter of Nahum Warren, Master of the Navy Yard at that place, originally from Portsmouth, N.H. She died 12 April 1860. He married second, in Missouri, Letitia Louise Dumaine, daughter of an old French resident who was born in Angouleme, France. He had several children by his first wife.

Thomas Hanford Wentworth is best known for his small pencil portraits, generally signed "T H Wentworth" and done between 1822 and 1826 of residents of CT, MA, and NY. However, it is also reported that he painted large water-color portraits, large oils, miniatures on ivory and made lithographs. He also made a series of five engravings of Niagara Falls which were issued in a portfolio with paper wrappers. One of these can be seen at Views of Niagara Falls--1821 to 1830

The sitter in the miniature is unknown. On the reverse there is an inscription "Last gift given to me by Aunt Nina for my birthday 1972". 805