I apologize if this is the wrong subreddit for this but I have no idea how to start researching this. This image has been hanging in my favorite bar for decades. He appears to be wearing an old military uniform, possibly from American Revolutionary War or War of 1812, but we have no way to identify. Does anyone recognize the uniform or the identity of the subject? An image of the portrait can be seen here https://imgur.com/aV2MHVx
Yes. It's definitely a Revolutonary War hero, though his uniform is often depicted as having different epaulets on the shoulders in his wartime portraits, typically either blank or with a series of three equal sized stars. He also tends to have a little curl to his hair in profile, as seen in [this] (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Vv5QpSzLT1pS2HgadISh-y_0Luof_eykfBjaAGN2su2p9F6m0QPph1f2cS8-Hnt21m9mk7xMtmOWfUviHchRY5looyVs0yaSr9j2SZpaQ-wb8Ur1DA) similar portrait (that also shows the 3 stars) done around 1920 by Italian artist Luini Costanzo. Leo Nock and [Victor David Brenner] (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/3966) also did sculptings in that time, both based on a portrait Jefferson himself tried to get in 1790 in "engraved" form, which was never created. He did buy two prints of the portrait - he called it a better likeness than Peale's earlier work, which is still praised for its wonderful capturing of the subject. In any event, the portrait from which your engraving is taken is [this one] (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B-qEPX_R7kY/T2aMBUN2DVI/AAAAAAAA7Fs/GHfVOlSpPds/s280/5%2BJoseph%2BWright%2B%25281756-1793%2529%2B%2BG.%2BWashington%252C%2Bengraved%2Bby%2BJames%2BManly%2Bafter%2BJoseph%2BWright%252C%2Bca.%2B1790..jpg), made by Joseph Wright, and a copy was hung by Jefferson in the Tea Room at Jefferson's Monticello.
The early 20th century sculptings were reproduced by companies like Newman Manufacturing of Cincinnati (which also made a bronze plate with all US Presidents until Hoover) and sold as collectibles, often alongside an opposite posed Abraham Lincoln.
These were popular about that time in America, and our coins followed trend. Brenner's sculpting of Lincoln would go on the US penny in 1909. The Buffalo Nickel was released in 1913, and the wife of that sculptor designed the [Oregon Trail Half Dollar] (https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/oregon-trail-memorial-half), released in 1926. About 1930 a contest was launched for a new design and the wife would submit [a design] (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/487702) that was rejected. John Flanagan had made a sculpting based on the [bust] (http://mtv-main-assets.mountvernon.org/files/resources/houdon-bust-march-21-2014-shenk-732-web.jpg) by Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1785, which is accepted as the best rendering of the subject. This is the image on the obverse of the [US Quarter] (https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/circulating-coins/quarter) and, between that and the works of [Peale] (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11707), is why we think George Washington looked like we do and not how Wright represented him.
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