Benjamin Harrison of Brandon (1743-1807)

Benjamin Harrison of Brandon was the son of Nathaniel Harrison and Mary Digges Harrison. He married three times. First, Anne Randolph of Wilton; second, Elizabeth Page of Rosewell; and third, Evelyn Byrd of Westover.

Dimensions: 48 15/16 x 39 11/16 in. (124.3 x 100.8 cm.)

The subject stands in an interior. He wears a black jacket, waistcoat, and trousers. A silver dress sword is at his left hip. His left hand is on his hip and holds a hat behind him, while his right hand rests on a carved wooden table. A miniature portrait on a black cord hangs around his neck and is partially tucked into his waistcoat. On the table are two books. One is labeled “Hale’s Husbandry” and the other, “Rural Economy.” Above the table is paneling framing a window. A red curtain hangs over the window. Through the window is a landscape view. The portrait is signed and dated “CWPeale/pinx. 1775” in the lower right.

See: Colonial Williamsburg eMuseum; Charles Coleman Sellers, “Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 42 (1952): 100.