AMERICAN SCHOOL (19TH CENTURY) PORTRAIT OF FREDERICK WATTS (1801-1889), FIRST U.S. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, oil on canvas, half-length depiction of a seated young man in red upholstered chair clutching a book, no signature located. Housed in a 19th century giltwood frame. Together with Frederick Watts' original painted tin trade sign for his law practice and a CDV of his brother Edward Watts. Three pieces total. Circa 1830. Portrait 29 1/2" x 24 1/2" sight, 38 1/2" x 33 1/4" OA.
Previous conservation, including relining (on possibly original stretchers) with scattered repairs and inpainting, mostly to background. Frame with minor wear and losses, likely repainted.

Provenance: Property descended in the family of Dr. William Miller Duncan, Staunton, VA.
Catalogue Note: Frederick Watts (1801-1899) was an important 19th-century American businessman, lawyer, agricultural and educational reformer, who, among other accomplishments, served as the nation's first Secretary of Agriculture during the Grant Administration and helped to found what is now Penn State University. Watts began his career as a lawyer, but soon explored a number of other business opportunities, including railroads, iron manufacturing, oil, gas, and public utilities, all the while maintaining a large farm. It was at this very farm in 1840, in fact, that Watts and inventor, Cyrus McCormick, rather famously demonstrated the latter's mechanical reaper in action for the first time. Watts served long terms on the Board of Trustees for both Penn State University and Dickinson College, served in the Grant Administration, and helped to usher in a number of educational reforms regarding agricultural and technical colleges. The present portrait was likely taken circa 1830 when Watts was operating a successful law practice at 20 East High Street in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and the trade sign, included with the present lot, probably dates from this same period as well.

Previous conservation, including relining (on possibly original stretchers) with scattered repairs and inpainting, mostly to background. Frame with minor wear and losses, likely repainted.