Skip to main content
The Walters Art Museum

Online Collection

Explore the Art Collection keyboard_arrow_down close
  • Explore By...
  • Category
  • Date
  • Medium
  • Creator
  • Places
  • Museum Locations
The Walters Art Museum walters-logo-white
  • Calendar
  • Art
  • Shop
  • Give Now
  • Visit
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Hours
    • Directions & Parking
    • Food, Drink, & Shop
    • Free Admission
    • Tours
    • Accessibility
    • Visitor Promise
  • Experience
    • Virtual Museum
    • Exhibitions & Installations
    • Programs & Events
    • Collections
    • Buildings
    • Baltimore
  • Support
    • Support the Walters
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Institutional Funders
    • Evening at the Walters
    • Volunteers
  • About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Leadership
    • Strategic Plan
    • Land Acknowledgment
    • Research
    • Policies
Image for Governor William Charles Coles Claiborne
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
Image for Governor William Charles Coles Claiborne
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image Zoom
  • arrow_forward_ios
  • arrow_forward_ios
Governor William Charles Coles Claiborne Thumbnail
Governor William Charles Coles Claiborne Thumbnail
Governor William Charles Coles Claiborne Thumbnail
Governor William Charles Coles Claiborne Thumbnail

Governor William Charles Coles Claiborne

Ambrose Duval (American, active ca. 1765) (Artist)
ca. 1803-1817
watercolor on ivory
(18th and 19th Centuries )

Waist-length portrait of Governor William Charles Coles Claiborne (ca. 1772-1817), with light brown hair, wearing an officer's coat of blue with deep white lapels and high collar, gold buttons, gold epaulettes, white shoulder belt across chest with insignia in center, high black collar and white muslin jabot.

Claiborne was the first governor of Louisiana. He moved to New Orleans and oversaw the transfer of Louisiana to U.S. control after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. He then governed what would become the State of Louisiana, then termed the "Territory of Orleans," during its period as a United States territory from 1804 through 1812. He also has the distinction of perhaps being the youngest ever US congressman (the actual date of his birth, however, is unclear).

French born artist, Ambrose Duval, worked in New Orleans in the first three decades of the 19th century.

Inscription

[Signed] Right: A. Duval; [Inscription] On back of frame: Governor / William Charles Coles Claiborne / Of Louisianna / By / A. Duval / Engraved by Longacre / Born 1775 - Died 1817 / Governor of Mississippi 1802 / Governor of Louisianna 1804 / Elected as Democrat to / the United States Senate / from the New State

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Henry Hart collection. Acquired by Abraham Jay Fink, Baltimore; by bequest to A. J. Fink Foundation, Inc., Baltimore, 1963; given to Walters Art Museum, 1963.

Conservation

Date Description Narrative
6/1/1964 Treatment other
Share
  • social-item
  • social-item
  • social-item

Geographies

USA (Place of Origin)

Measurements

H excluding frame: 3 3/4 x W: 3 1/8 in. (9.53 x 7.94 cm); Framed H: 4 1/8 x W: 3 1/2 in. (10.48 x 8.89 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of the A. Jay Fink Foundation, Inc., Baltimore, in memory of Abraham Jay Fink, 1963

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

38.459

Do you have additional information?

Notify the curator

Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

  • Visit
  • Experience
  • What's On
  • About
  • Shop
  • Support The Walters
copyright

The Walters Art Museum

  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy/Terms of Use
  • Copyright Info
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • twitter
modal close
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
Image for
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Tooltip description to define this term for visitors to the website.

zoom-btn zoom-btn preview-download
  • arrow_forward_ios
  • arrow_forward_ios