- Title
- Lieutenant William Preston Griffin, U.S.N.
- Date Made
- circa 1833-1838
- Medium
- Miniature: watercolor on ivory
- Dimensions
- Oval: 2 3/4 × 2 1/4 in. (6.99 × 5.72 cm)
Frame: 8 3/4 × 11 3/4 × 1 in. (22.23 × 29.85 × 2.54 cm)
- Accession Number
- 26.1.152
- Collecting Area
- American Art
- Curatorial Notes
According to the signature and family tradition an artist by the name of E. Toci (dates unknown) painted this portrait of William Griffin (1810-1851). Attempts to verify the artist’s name have proven fruitless.
Second son of Mary and John Griffin, William Griffin became a lieutenant in early 1838. In this portrait he is depicted wearing the uniform of a passed midshipman, a status he achieved in 1833. The miniature may have been painted in Italy during Griffin’s year-long tour of Europe.
- Selected Bibliography
- Fort, Ilene Susan and Michael Quick. American Art: a Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991.
