Benjamin Grymes (ca. 1725-1776) and Ludwell Grymes (ca. 1733-1795)

Based on the apparent ages of the boys, the subjects are generally identified as Benjamin and Ludwell. John and Lucy Ludwell Grymes had 7 children living when Charles Bridges painted in the 1730s and 1740s. Benjamin and Ludwell Grymes were two of the younger sons of John Grymes and Lucy Ludwell Grymes of Brandon Plantation in Middlesex County. A double portrait of two of their sisters also exists, as does a portrait of their older brother.

Dimensions: 39 1/2 x 49 1/2 in. (100.33 x 125.73 cm.)

The portrait represents two boys standing outside. An older boy stands on the left side of the canvas wearing a blue jacket with red lining, blue waistcoat, and blue trousers. His left hand holds a large upright bow and his right hand holds a bunch of arrows. The younger boy stands next to him on the right side of the canvas and wears a red gown with a gold belt and a black turban with a jewel and white plume. A squirrel with a nut sits on his left wrist. Behind the boys is a landscape and a balustrade.

See: Carolyn J. Weekley, Painters and Paintings in the Early American South (2013), 186; Graham Hood, Charles Bridges and William Dering: Two Virginia Painters, 1735-1750 (1978), 54-62.