Portrait of Francis Welch

Description

Painted portrait in an ornate gilt frame; subject is Francis Welch, depicted from the waist up and sitting in a red chair; he wears a blue jacket with yellow vest and white ruffled shirt; he is holding a long clay pipe in his mouth.

Francis Welch was the son of John Welch, a Boston furniture maker and picture frame carver. He was educated at Boston Latin School in 1754 and by 1780 was working as a customs officer in Philadelphia. After the Revolutionary War, Welch traveled to Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, and by 1788 was living in London. Welch had his portrait painted in London by James Earl, the brother of the more well-known Connecticut artist Ralph Earl. Welch died shortly thereafter in 1790 with the title Comptroller of the Customs in Cape Breton Island. The portrait provides insight into the lives of Bostonians before and after the American Revolution.