Description
In 1862, President Lincoln appointed Halleck "general-in-chief of all U.S. land forces"-the liaison between the president and the forces in the field. Acquaintances recalled Halleck as "a regimental clerk with the personality of a cold muffin." Ritchie, a Scottish-born artist, was known chiefly for his prints.
Provenance
Jacob A. Rosenfield, Chicago [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; A.J. Fink, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; A.J. Fink Foundation Inc., Baltimore, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1963, by gift.
Inscriptions
[Signed] Right: A.H. Ritchie; [Inscription] On back of frame: General Halleck / Of the Civil War / Painted on ivory / A. Ritchie / About 1865
Credit
Gift of the A. Jay Fink Foundation, Inc., in memory of Abraham Jay Fink, 1963