John Baylor III (1705-1772)

The subject is believed to be John Baylor III who was born at Smithfield Plantation in King & Queen County but built a home at Newmarket Plantation after returning from England in the mid-1720s. His portrait may have been painted in England when he was sent to school but it also bears stylistic similarity to some of the unattributed Virginia portraits from the same period.

Dimensions: 49 x 40 1/2 in. (124.46 x 102.87 cm.)

The young man wears a blue suit with dress sword, silver lining and trim on his coat, slits at cuffs. He wears a white wig. His left hand is on his hip and right hand holds black hat with cockade. Stands inside by a window beyond which is visible trees and a body of water.

See: Carolyn J. Weekley, Painters and Paintings in the Early American South (2013), 81; Wayne Craven, Colonial American Portraiture (1986), 201-202; Encyclopedia Virginia