A Flutist

Object Details

Object Essay

One of the most intriguing paintings in the Collection is the anonymous portrait of an unidentified black flutist. The skillfully painted sitter is impressive in his silent dignity. The pose seems derived from Gilbert Stuart, to whom the painting was once attributed. The only artist whose name has been proposed from among Stuart’s students and imitators is Ezra Ames of Albany, New York. But The Flutist is generally superior to Ames’s work. There are areas of repair and repaint in the sitter’s forehead, nose, and upper lip.  

Although it is by no means certain that either painter or sitter is American, the evidence—costume, instrument, and music—at least helps in the dating of the painting. The costume is not easy to pinpoint. The black (perhaps once dark blue) coat with large buttons and a red revers could be English of about 1785–1800, or French of a slightly later date. The natural hairstyle—no wig, no powdering, no pigtail—suggests a date after 1795. But all this assumes an up-to-date English or Continental origin. In the more or less provincial setting of North America or the West Indies, fashions might have changed more slowly or have been altered locally.      

The transverse flute is depicted with precision. Historically, between about 1770 and the end of the century, flutes were given three additional keyed holes. That this instrument has only the D-sharp keyed hole of earlier flutes argues for a date before 1800 and/or a provincial origin for the painting.^{1 _{For the development of the flute, see Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., s.v. “Flute.”}}      

The music cover is inscribed “Six/Duets by/W. Shield.” William Shield (1748 –1829) was an English violinist and composer whose contemporary popularity was owed primarily to his numerous theater pieces, but who also wrote for string ensembles and voice and published books on harmony and thoroughbass. His Opus 1 (1777) was “Six Duettos for Two Violins” (one was designated for two flutes), and his Opus 2 (ca. 1780) was “Six Duets for Two Violins.” Since violin and flute compositions were interchangeable, it is undoubtedly one of these works that is being held by the flutist. This gives 1777 as the earliest possible date for the painting.^{2_{The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, s.v. “William Shield.”}}     

The solemn aura of the painting and the obvious attainment of the unknown artist, as well as its unusual subject, compel the viewer’s interest and warrants further study.

William Kloss

Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.