Brock Livingston Delaplaine
Medium
Enamel on copper
Dimensions
Sight: 3 x 2 1/2 in. (7.6 x 6.4 cm)
Classification
Painting, miniature
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund, 1985
Accession Number
1985.141.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the delicate portrait *Brock Livingston Delapl* (1817), a gem by William Russell Birch, an artist celebrated for capturing early American life. This intimate depiction of a young boy exemplifies the tradition of miniature portraits, cherished as personal keepsakes in the early 19th century. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, it reflects the burgeoning cultural confidence of post-Revolutionary America, where families commissioned such works to preserve loved ones' likenesses amid a mobile society. Crafted in enamel on copper—a technique Birch mastered for its lumi...
About the Artist
William Russell Birch · 1755–1834
American artist, born England, active Philadelphia. Comment on works: printmaker, miniaturist, enamelist