Miniature Enamel Painting of USS Constitution vs. HMS Guerriere
This small painting is all that is left of the gold box that accompanied “The Freedom of the City, presented to Isaac Hull by the Common Council of New York City on January 4, 1812/3 and communicated ‘their high sense of the courage and skill displayed by yourself, your officers and crew in the capture of the British Frigate Guerriere.’” Apparently, Ann Hull, in need of money after the death of her husband, had the box melted down but saved the lid with the miniature painting by William Russell Birch, an English enamellist and miniature painter.
Creator
William Russell Birch
Date Created
1812-1813
Medium
Metal, Enamel, Oil paint
Dimensions
[H]3 1/2 in. [W]4 1/2 in.
Catalog Number
15.1996.4TL
Credit Line
On loan to the USS Constitution Museum from a Private Collection.
Terms of Use
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
