Thomas Sully
Portrait of Elias Jonathan Dayton
(1783-1872)
American 1813 Oil on canvas 35 ¼ x 28 ½ inches Museum purchase with funds from Spencer-Dayton Family 1944.87.1
Dayton? My Name is Dayton, too!
Presidential connections, an untimely death, and the Gem City. This debonair portrait invites you to discover more about life and art in early America, and a little something about the city that shares its name.
A Day in the Life
Where Dayton Got Its Name
The man in this portrait, Elias Jonathan Dayton, was the son of Jonathan Dayton. The elder Dayton was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, the youngest man to sign the Constitution, and served in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the state of New Jersey. He acquired a large portion of land between the Mad and Little Miami Rivers for his military service, and the emerging city was named after him even though he never set foot in it. Elias Dayton visited the city in 1824 on business for his father and unexpectedly died on the return trip to New Jersey.
Tools and Techniques
Behind the Scenes
Step by Step
Thomas Sully was one of the most popular portrait painters in the early 1800s, sought after by the wealthy and powerful in the early years of the United States. Sully was also prolific, making some 2,600 portraits in his lifetime. His productivity was due, in part, to a carefully structured process that allowed him to complete a person’s portrait in about six sittings of two hours each. In his book Hints to Young Painters, Sully outlines this process.
Further Reading: Thomas Sully, Hints to Young Painters, and the Process of Portrait-Painting (Philadelphia: J. M. Stoddard & Co., 1873), 15–23.
Look Closer
Just for Kids
Imagine!
Thomas Sully painted this portrait of Elias Jonathan Dayton. Elias’s father was given land in Ohio after the Revolutionary War. The land is now the city of Dayton. Elias Johnathan Dayton visited the city in 1824.
Looking at this portrait, can you tell what kind of person Elias Jonathan Dayton was? What does his pose and style tell us about him? Imagine if this painting could come to life, what might Elias do next? Why is he dressed this way?
Signs & Symbols
Dig Deeper
Arts Intersected
The Sculpture Speaks
Did You Know?
A Familiar Face
This is not the first portrait by Thomas Sully that you have seen. Why not? Look in your wallet. Sully painted the portrait of President Andrew Jackson that is the model for his engraved likeness on the twenty-dollar bill. Incidentally, Gilbert Stuart, whose portrait Mrs. Michael Keppele is nearby, painted the portrait of George Washington that is the model for the one-dollar bill.
Expert Opinion
Look Around
Tea Time
What kind of home furnishings might a wealthy person like Elias Jonathan Dayton have used in the early 1800s? Look for the teapot made by Daniel Van Voorhis in the case of silver objects in this gallery. This teapot descended through the Jonathan Dayton family and was acquired by The DAI along with this painting and other artifacts from them.
About the Artist
Talk Back
Facing Time
We do not know much about Elias Jonathan Dayton, but we have this portrait by Thomas Sully that has lasted over two hundred years. Some portraits emphasize the subject’s clothes and surroundings, painting a picture of the person through the things they own. For example, look at Sir Joshua Reynolds’ painting, Henry, Eighth Lord Arundell of Wardour in Gallery 213. Other portraits, like this one, are simpler and let the person’s face tell most of the story.
Based on this portrait, what kind of person do you think Elias Jonathan Dayton was? If your portrait was going to be in a museum in two hundred years, with what sort of expression and pose would you like to be remembered?
