Portrait of Neville B. Craig
Portrait of Neville B. Craig
Portrait of Neville B. Craig

Portrait of Neville B. Craig

Object number2018.68.1
Artist
Retailer
Datec. 1853
OriginPittsburgh, PA
MediumOil paint; Canvas; Wood; Gold leaf; Metal; Paper; Ink; Adhesive; Rubber
Credit LineGift of Katharine Davison Gerwig
DescriptionFramed oil painting on canvas. Rectangular canvas. Bust portrait of caucasian male portrayed in three-quarter view facing slightly proper left. Man has short-cropped gray hair and wears eyeglasses; his gaze is at the viewer. Man is dressed in a three-piece black suit, white shirt with high collar, and black neckwear. Man's proper left hand is inserted behind his vest's proper right front panel. Man is seated in a red chair whose back is visible in the bottom proper right corner. Background is brown and there is a column along the proper left margin. Artwork is unsigned. Rectangular gilt wooden frame. Frame has one molded acanthus leaf in each corner with a smaller acanthus leaf inset in each corner.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth (Frame): 39.875 × 34.75 × 2.875 in. (101.3 × 88.3 × 7.3 cm)
Height x Width (Sight size): 29.313 × 24.375 in. (74.5 × 61.9 cm)
InscriptionsReverse of frame has incomplete paper label adhered at top center with text "...J. GILLESPIE / FINE ART DEALERS / PITTSBURG, PA. / ...son / Place - Sewickley / ...trait Neville B. Craig".

Reverse of frame has paper label adhered on stretcher in top proper left corner with handwritten black ink text "Neville B. Craig. / May 29 1787 - May 3, 1860 / [illegible]".

Reverse of frame has paper label adhered in bottom right with handwritten text in ink "Neville B. Craig / May 29, 1787 - May 3, 1860 / Father of Annie Craig (Davison) / Grandfather of Neville C. Davison / Great Grandfather. NCD Jr. / Great, Great " of NCD III".
Historical NotesNeville B. Craig was the son of early Pittsburgh businessman and landowner Major Isaac Craig and was born in the Fort Pitt blockhouse. Craig went to the Pittsburgh Academy and then Princeton, although he never graduated, before studying law under Judge Alexander Addison. He married Jane Fulton in 1811 and opened a store in Ohio for a few years before returning to Pittsburgh around 1820 and becoming Deputy Attorney General for Allegheny County and then city solicitor from 1821 to 1829 and clerk of Select Council from 1821 to 1825. The couple had 10 children and lived in Bellefield, now Oakland. In 1829, Craig purchased the Pittsburgh Gazette, and remained the editor until 1841. In the paper he promoted his support of the Anti-Masonic party, anti-slavery and temperance. After this he was elected to the PA House of Representatives where he served from 1842 to 1843. He later ran unsuccessful campaigns to become a US Representative and Mayor of Pittsburgh. Craig and his descendants were active in documenting the history of the region.
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