Colonel William Allen

between 1756 and 1758

John Hesselius American, 1728-1778

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Title Colonel William Allen

Artwork Date between 1756 and 1758

Artist John Hesselius

Life Dates 1728-1778

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 36 × 28 1/2 inches (91.4 × 72.4 cm) Framed: 42 1/2 × 35 1/4 × 2 3/4 inches (108 × 89.5 × 7 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Gift of Dexter M. Ferry, Jr.

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 27.606

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

ca. 1758-1790 or 1793, the sitter, William Allen

1790 or 1793-1831, his son, Colonel William Allen

1831-1833, his sister, Anne Armistead Allen

1833-1857, her daughter, Martha Armistead Edloe

1857-1875, her son, William Griffin Orgain, who took the name of Allen

his son, William Allen

his widow, Mrs. William Allen. 1927, dealer, Robert C. Vose (Boston, Massachusetts, USA)

1927-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Burroughs, Clyde H. “Portraits by Wollaston and Harding.” Bulletin of the DIA 9, 2 (November 1927): p. 20.

Burroughs, Clyde H. “Early American Portraits at the Detroit Institute of Arts.” Art in America 17 (October 1929): p. 259.

Heil, Walter and Clyde H. Burroughs. Catalogue of Paintings in the Permanent Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit. Detroit, 1930, no. 409.

Burroughs, Alan. Limners and Likenesses: Three Centuries of American Painting. Cambridge, MA, 1936, p. 48 (fig. 44).

Survey of Colonial and Provincial Paintings. Exh. cat., University Gallery, University of Minnesota. 1939, p. 17, no. 45 (ill.). [attributed to Wollaston]

Shaw, Nancy Rivard, et al. American Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Volume 1: Works by Artists Born Before 1816. New York, 1991, pp. 124-125, no. 52.

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback