There are no marking or signatures on this portrait, judging by the clothing I would put it at early to mid 19th century. There is a possibility this came from the Texas state capitol. If it did, it would have been removed anywhere from the 1950s to the 80s.

I figured I would throw it out there and see if anyone could put a name to the face. I have compared many portraits online very few men back then had no facial hair and apparently almost every Texan had wild unkempt hair.

The collar looks like maybe he's a minister

Editing to add that it looks a little like Ben Milam (but it's probably not him).

Rick Perry?

JaneDoe02 said:

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The collar looks like maybe he's a minister

Editing to add that it looks a little like Ben Milam (but it's probably not him).

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Old Ben rocked some serious sideburns... this is not him.

How did you end up with a portrait from the Capitol?

Is there a signature? Maybe you could at least narrow down the date and location if you knew who did the painting.

If you get up and walk away from the computer/monitor the eyes will follow you.

The collar seems to be the fashion of the time period. Many portraits from the Texas revolution time period show the same collar.

Ben Milam had the closest hair and face structure I could find as well, but yeah the sideburns are absent.
EDIT James Bonham was another but I don't think it's him either.

No artist signature, no marking of any kind on the frame / back.

I purchased it at Texas senator W. T. "Bill" Moore's estate sale. It could be an ancestor from his or his wife's family as well. This is a distinct possibility, but no one left in the family knew who it might be.

Also I don't know if it is common practice now, but many state and federal politicians have the option of buying their office furniture and furnishings. I know it happened quite often during the time he was in office. Also in politics, things get "gifted" as well. That's was leads me to believe it may have come from Austin.


On a side note, I also picked up a small NSFW mini poster of Miss Aggieland 1968 that was a gag gift to the senator. I can't post it here for obvious reasons.

Now that is some much needed eye bleach compared to the picture I have.. Not enough to totally wipe out the memory but it does relieve some of the pain.

Have you shown it to any local historical society folks? Painted portraits were more common in that era, so it could have been a local farmer or civic leader, not necessarily a big well known state politician.

I enjoy these kinds of hunts where you don't have any big obvious leads.

Not yet, I figured I would start here. Texags knows things. I think my nest step might be to look over his and his wife's genealogy if I can find it online. Maybe a few hints there before I go further.

I've also been trying to track down different portrait artists of the time and compare their work to this one.

It is highly doubtful but this does resemble other portraits by Sarah Miriam Peale





Again I know it's probably not her but the hands, eyes, and the red fabrics she used are similar.
Also I don't see signatures on most of her portraits, the signature and portrait information I have been able to find was usually on the paper backing which in this case is long gone.


EDIT
I love the hunt as well. It's amazing what you learn throughout the process. I have another portrait I picked up at a flea market that I gave up on a while back. I have it stored away and may try again. At least on that one I have names (though hard to read) on the painting. I need to dig out a few of my more interesting if not really valuable finds and post them here sometime.

Dig them out and post them! Very interesting and thanks for posting these.

I've actually been kicking the idea of establishing a database of the Republic of Texas, including every person who lived in it, cross linked to genealogical info. It would be a fun project, but would need a sponsor.
Ideally, you could upload photos and use AI facial recognition software to compare them and help identify these other photos that are unnamed.

I would email the Texas State Historical Association's Chief Historian, or some other similar organization and see what they say. I am sure they are probably a bit bored right now with many research facilities and universities closed.

BQ78 said:

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You might not do it but here are some naked underage photos of Miss Aggieland 1968 being man-handled by a Pisshead.

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That would be Mr. Andrew Salge from Tynan, Texas on the left. He had Rev in '66 I believe. Successful farmer and long time Asst Mgr of Bee County Co-op.

It seems the Peale family had a large number of portraitists in it, all of whom had very similar styles.