Item Summary

Descriptive Information

Title
Capt. James West.
Call Number
D Middle 83/GC168/Box 18/Small/Artist Biffin, Sarah GA 2011.01448
Identifier
ark:/88435/dcsx61f096k
Publisher
1844.
Language
No linguistic content
Date Created
1844
Extent
1 item ; sheet 26.5 x 21.7 cm [with oval frame].
Source Acquisition
Gift of W. Allen Scheuch II, Princeton Class of 1976, given in honor of Meg Whitman, Princeton Class of 1977.
References
Lloyd, Stephen, and Sloan, Kim. The Intimate Portrait. [Edinburgh]: National Galleries of Scotland; [London]: The British Museum, 2008. [Graphic Arts Collection and Marquand Library, call no. ND1314.4 .L56 2008]
Rights Statement
Copyright Not Evaluated
Notes
Medium: Watercolors on paper
Depiction: Half-length portrait of West, seascape in background.
Signed, lower center: "Painted by Miss Biffin - without hands, 1844".
Artist information: Born with no arms or hands, legs or feet, Biffin taught herself to perform a variety of everyday tasks using her mouth and shoulders. She developed a talent for drawing and painting, became an expert seamstress, and performed these abilities before a crowd of spectators. Charles Dickens mentioned her in Nicholas Nickelby and Martin Chuzzlewit.

Discovery Information

Subject
Portraits, American—19th century
West, James, 1804-1888—Portraits
Ship captains—United States—19th century—Portraits
Portraits

Physical Characteristics

File Count
2

Institutional Information

Collection
Omega Project
Selections from the Graphic Arts Collection
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/4f3d5c1f-fb78-41e1-8e8c-e4b139512bf6/manifest