Joseph Badger
Encyclopedia
Joseph Badger was a portrait artist in Boston
, Massachusetts
in the 18th-century. He painted some 80 portraits of merchants, businessmen, clergy, and other notables, and their wives and children.
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He "began his career as a house-painter and glazier, and ... throughout his life continued this work, besides painting signs, hatchments and other heraldic devices, in order to eke out a livelihood when orders for portraits slackened."
Portrait subjects included:
Badger died in Boston in May, 1765, when "taken with an apoplectic fit as he was walking in his garden, and expired in a few minutes after."
Works by Joseph Badger are in the collections of the Worcester Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Historic New England's Phillips House, Salem, Mass.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in the 18th-century. He painted some 80 portraits of merchants, businessmen, clergy, and other notables, and their wives and children.
Biography
Badger was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, to tailor Stephen Badger and Mercy Kettell. In 1731 he married Katharine Felch; they moved to Boston around 1733. He was a member of the Brattle Street ChurchBrattle Street Church
The Brattle Street Church was a Congregational and Unitarian church on Brattle Street in Boston, Massachusetts.- Brief history :...
.
He "began his career as a house-painter and glazier, and ... throughout his life continued this work, besides painting signs, hatchments and other heraldic devices, in order to eke out a livelihood when orders for portraits slackened."
Portrait subjects included:
- James Bowdoin (1676-1747), father of Massachusetts governor James BowdoinJames BowdoinJames Bowdoin II was an American political and intellectual leader from Boston, Massachusetts during the American Revolution. He served in both branches of the Massachusetts General Court in the colonial era and was president of the state's constitutional convention...
- Elizabeth Campbell, wife of William Foye
- William Cooper (1716-1743), pastor of the Brattle St. Church, Boston
- Andrew Croswell (1709-1785), pastor of King's ChapelKing's ChapelKing's Chapel is "an independent Christian unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association" that is "unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in what was formerly called "Stone Chapel", an 18th century...
, Boston - Thomas Cushing (1696-1746), speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and father of Thomas CushingThomas CushingThomas Cushing III was an American lawyer and statesman from Boston, Massachusetts. He was a loyalist for Massachusetts in the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776, and the first Lt. Commander of the state from 1780 to 1788...
- Thomas DawesThomas DawesThomas Dawes was a Patriot who served as a Massachusetts militia colonel during the American Revolution and afterward assumed prominent positions in Massachusetts's government. His positions included state councilor, member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, and representative in both the House...
- Jonathan Edwards
- William FoyeWilliam FoyeWilliam Foye was a political figure in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1758 to 1759....
- Esther Orne Gardner (ca.1714-1755)
- Ellis Gray (1715-1753), pastor of Old North ChurchOld North ChurchOld North Church , at 193 Salem Street, in the North End of Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent...
, Boston - John Haskins (1729-1814), grandfather of Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
- John Homans (1753-1800), doctor
- Joseph Jackson (1707-1790)
- John Larrabee (1686-1792), commanding officer of Castle WilliamFort Independence (Massachusetts)Fort Independence is a granite star fort that provided harbor defenses for Boston, Massachusetts. Located on Castle Island, Fort Independence is the oldest continuously fortified site of English origin in the United States. The first primitive fortification was placed on the site in 1634 and...
, Massachusetts - Rev. Dudley LeavittDudley Leavitt (minister)Rev. Dudley Leavitt was a Congregational minister born in New Hampshire, educated at Harvard College, who led a splinter group from the First Church in Salem, Massachusetts, during a wave of religious ferment nearly a decade before the Great Awakening. Following Leavitt's death at age 42, his...
(1720–1762) - Mrs. Dudley LeavittDudley Leavitt (minister)Rev. Dudley Leavitt was a Congregational minister born in New Hampshire, educated at Harvard College, who led a splinter group from the First Church in Salem, Massachusetts, during a wave of religious ferment nearly a decade before the Great Awakening. Following Leavitt's death at age 42, his...
(née Mary Pickering) (1733–1805), sister of Timothy PickeringTimothy PickeringTimothy Pickering was a politician from Massachusetts who served in a variety of roles, most notably as the third United States Secretary of State, serving in that office from 1795 to 1800 under Presidents George Washington and John Adams.-Early years:Pickering was born in Salem, Massachusetts to... - Elizabeth Marion (1721-1746), wife of William Story, and grandmother of Joseph StoryJoseph StoryJoseph Story was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1811 to 1845. He is most remembered today for his opinions in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee and The Amistad, along with his magisterial Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, first...
- John Marston (1715-1786), proprietor of Boston's Bunch-of-GrapesBunch-of-GrapesThe Bunch-of-Grapes was a tavern located on King Street in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 17th and 18th centuries. Typical of taverns of the time, it served multiple functions in the life of the town. One could buy drinks, concert tickets, slaves; meet friends, business associates, political...
tavern during the revolution - Lois Orne, wife of William Paine (physician)William Paine (physician)William Paine was a physician and political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Charlotte County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1786 to 1787. Paine was unusual in that he was a United Empire Loyalist who chose to return to the United States.He was born in Worcester,...
- Rebecca Orne
- Thomas PrinceThomas PrinceThomas Prince was an American clergyman, scholar and historian noted for his historical text A Chronological History of New England, in the Form of Annals...
- William Scott, shoemaker, Boston
- Elizabeth Storer, wife of Boston merchant-shipowner Isaac Smith (1719-1787)
- William Tyler (1688-1758), business partner of Thomas HancockThomas Hancock (merchant)Thomas Hancock was a merchant in colonial Boston. He got his start in the book trade, and expanded into importing and exporting throughout the British Empire. He was also a smuggler, evading the British Navigation Acts by trading with Holland, which was forbidden...
- Cornelius Waldo (1684-1753)
- George WhitefieldGeorge WhitefieldGeorge Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
Badger died in Boston in May, 1765, when "taken with an apoplectic fit as he was walking in his garden, and expired in a few minutes after."
Works by Joseph Badger are in the collections of the Worcester Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Historic New England's Phillips House, Salem, Mass.
Further reading
- Lawrence Park. Joseph Badger (1708-1765): and a descriptive list of some of his works. 1918.
- Portrait of Jeremiah Belknap by Joseph Badger. Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Vol. 6, No. 7/8 (Sep. - Oct., 1919), pp.123-125.
- The Orne Portraits by Joseph Badger. Worcester Art Museum Bulletin v.1, no.2, Feb. 1972.
External links
- WorldCat
- Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts. Joseph Badger (1707/8–1765).
- Smithsonian American Art Museum. Inventory of works by Badger.
- Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Joseph Badger.
- Cleveland Museum of Art. Portrait of Jeremiah Belknap, ca.1758.