IMPRESSIVE LIFE PORTRAIT OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO COMMODORE JOHN BARRY, THE FATHER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY,
BY GILBERT STUART

Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)

Portrait of Commodore John Barry
(1745-1803)

Oil on canvas mounted on board; 29¼ x 24¼ inches. Philadelphia, circa 1801. Lawrence Park* describes it thusly: “Bust, three-quarters to the right. His thin white hair is tied in a queue bow. His uniform coat is blue with buff lapels and high standing collar, gold epaulettes and buttons; he is wearing the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati in his lapel. Plain background of neutral color.” Period frame. Restored in 1937 by Ms. Hannah Horner of Philadelphia. Some slight inpainting within the field but the face is left virtually untouched.

Provenance:
Through the family to P. Barry Hayes
His widow
Her second husband, Doctor Leiper of Philadelphia
Mrs. William Horace Hepburn (Elizabeth Barry Hepburn), a grandniece of the Commodore
Macbeth Galleries (purchased in the Anderson Galleries Elizabeth Barry Hepburn estate sale in 1939 for $30,000)
Private owner
Private owner

Literature:

*Lawrence Park, GILBERT STUART: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works..., Volume I, pp. 134-135, No. 59; New York, 1926. Illustrated in Volume III, p. 38.

W.B. Meany, Commodore John Barry, 1911 [reproduced in half-tone as the frontispiece].

William John Bell Clark, Gallant John Barry: “The Story of a Naval Hero of Two Wars,” New York, 1938 [frontispiece stating it is “From the Hepburn Collection”].

James Longacre, engraved for National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans, New York, 1835, Volume 2, plate 16 (Stauffer 1928).

Rice & Hart, National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans, 1854, Volume 2, plate 10.

Fiske, American Revolution (1896).

Numerous others available upon request.

EXHIBITED: PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART

Commodore John Barry immigrated to the United States from Ireland and settled in Philadelphia at the age of 15. Always interested in the sea, over the next six years he gained his mate's rating, chiefly through working on ships in the West Indies. Willing and Morris, the largest ship owners in colonial America, early saw the talent in the young Barry and hired him to sail goods from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the West Indies to Bristol. His knowledge of the West Indian waters was key to many victories on ships he commanded during the Revolution.

In 1775 Barry was asked by Congress to outfit the Continental Navy from scratch. This he did ably, and with Robert Morris prominent on the Marine Committee and a major figure in financing the Revolution, Barry soon took command of one of Morris's ships, The Black Prince, which became The Alfred in its naval service. He next commanded the famous Lexington in 1776, which captured several British vessels, and went on to captain the Effingham , the frigate Raleigh (1778), and the Alliance, which captured three British warships and three privateers during the period 1781-1783. As captain of the Alliance he escorted General Lafayette and the Vicomte de Noailles back to France.

In 1794 Commodore John Barry was given Commission Number 1 by Congress, signed by President Washington, appointing him the senior captain of the newly established United States Navy. He commanded the frigate United States that saw action during the Quasi-War with France in the West Indies.

In 2005, by joint resolution of Congress, a law (Public Law 109-142) was passed officially recognizing Commodore John Barry as “first flag officer of the United States Navy.” He is the favorite son of the AOH (Ancient Order of Hibernians), and there have been two ships named after him, one of which is a centerpiece of the Naval Museum, and the other, the new USS JOHN BARRY (DDG-52), is in active service on the high seas today.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON:
ORIGINAL OIL PORTRAITS 18th to 19th century. Original handwritten letters, documents, manuscripts, relics.

Robert Morris:
ORIGINAL OIL PORTRAITS 18th to 19th century. Original handwritten letters, documents, manuscripts, relics.

THOMAS JEFFERSON:
ORIGINAL OIL PORTRAITS AND
SCULPTURE, 18th to 19th century.
Original handwritten letters, documents,
manuscripts, RELICS, books from his
library.

GEORGE WASHINGTON:
ORIGINAL OIL PAINTINGS, PORTRAITS,
AND SCULPTURE, 18TH CENTURY, ESPECIALLY BY GILBERT STUART, TRUMBULL, PEALE, HOUDON, AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT ARTISTS. Original handwritten letters, documents, manuscripts, books from his
library, and anything he owned during his lifetime with proper documentation.

WHAT ELSE WE DO BUY

Over many years, you have read my ads and seen the diversity of my interests. We are quite avid buyers and pay fair prices for items in the Americana market of interest to us. Here is a partial list of what we would be most likely to purchase outright, from important single pieces to collections:

• American classic copper, silver, and gold coins.
  
  
• U.S. and worldwide postage stamps, especially early mint and postal history.
  
  
• Autograph letters or manuscripts of historic, scientific, literary, or musical personages such as signers Button Gwinnett, Thomas Lynch, Jr., Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Stone, Arthur Middleton, and Presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln; historic figures such as Alexander Hamilton, Robert Morris, and Lafayette; scientists—Einstein, Newton, Edison, Curie, Bell, Morse, Tesla; authors—Mark Twain, Herman Melville, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Poe, Joyce; composers—Beethoven, Chopin, George Gershwin, Bach, Handel, Liszt, and Richard Wagner. This is just a partial list, as we are looking for many more, and also large correspondences of historic interest.
  
  
• Oil paintings—historic: portraits of Presidents and signers of the Declaration; American colonial figures; battle scenes; genre.
  
  
• Oil paintings—regional: Hudson River; landscapes of Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Western, and marine pictures.
  
  
• Miniature watercolor paintings on ivory especially by Charles Willson Peale and other members of the Peale family; also southern and Black subjects by noted artists.
  
  
• Photographs and photographic archives in the fields of history, automobiles, sports, and the West.
  
  
• Anything intrinsically valuable owned by a President, especially WHITE HOUSE CHINA.
  
  
• Sculpture in bronze and marble.