Evans, Benjamin Beale [after Pierre Eugène du Simitière]:

$1,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN JAY PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS & MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY FROM CONGRESS AT MADRID. An uncommon early engraved portrait of Founding Father John Jay (1745-1829), after an original portrait by Pierre Eugène du Simitière. The image shows Jay in profile from the torso up, and is delicately colored in shades of blue and rose. John Jay drafted the New York State Constitution in 1777, and for two years was the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court. This 1779 portrait of Jay was drawn by du Simitière in Philadelphia, just when Jay had completed his term as sixth President of the Continental Congress (December 1778 – September 1779), and had just been appointed the United States Minister to Spain, a difficult assignment for Jay since the Spanish Court refused to officially receive Jay at the court. Still, Jay was able to negotiate a loan from Spain to the Confederation Government. Following the revolution, Jay co-authored the Federalist Papers, was appointed the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, negotiated the 1794 Jay treaty with Great Britain, and served as governor of New York before retiring in 1801.Pierre Eugène du Simitière (1737-1784) was born in Geneva, Switzerland and in 1766 permanently settled in Philadelphia. He was a naturalist, an American patriot, a member of the American Philosophical Society, and in 1776 served as an artistic consultant to the committee of Congress tasked with designing the Great Seal, submitting the first proposed design t

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