Artwork
Captain Isaac Foster
Captain Isaac Foster is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Joseph Badger. It dates from 1755 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower right: 1755; on reverse of the original canvas: Isaac Foster; / Son of Richard;Foster Esqr. / And Parnell His Wife Was Born Janu Ye 3rd, 1703 / 4
About this work
Technique & Style
The choice of bed ticking as a ground distinguishes the object's physical construction from contemporary portraits created on standard canvas or wooden panels.
Executed in 1755, this portrait utilizes oil paint applied directly onto a support of bed ticking, an unconventional coarse linen fabric typically used for mattress covers rather than fine art. The work measures 91.7 by 71.2 centimeters. As a mid-eighteenth-century American portrait, the piece reflects the material constraints and stylistic approaches of the period, where artists like Joseph Badger often adapted to available local resources.
The choice of bed ticking as a ground distinguishes the object's physical construction from contemporary portraits created on standard canvas or wooden panels.
History & Provenance
The portrait was commissioned and painted in 1755 by Joseph Badger, likely as a likeness of Captain Isaac Foster.
By 1873 it belonged to Mrs. David Buffum of Walpole, New Hampshire, who is recorded as a descendant of the sitter. It descended to her son, Dr. Thomas Bellows Buffum, by 1918, and then to Annie Buffum Williams of Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1943. The Garbisches purchased the work in Boston before 16 May 1949, and in 1957 donated it to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Overview
Joseph Badger’s portrait of Captain Isaac Foster, executed in 1755, presents a seated gentleman in mid‑eighteenth‑century dress. The figure is rendered in oil on a bed‑ticking canvas, a material choice that imparts a subtly textured surface. The composition is anchored by a muted brown backdrop that harmonizes with the sitter’s brown jacket and white shirt.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter, identified as Captain Isaac Foster, is shown with white hair and a composed expression, his gaze turned slightly to the right of the viewer. He rests his right hand on an ornamental table, a pose that conveys a sense of measured authority and personal dignity typical of colonial portraiture.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Joseph Badger was born on March 14, 1707/8, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the son of Stephen Badger, a tailor, and Mercy Kettell.
