Although the subject is not identified in the Mahockney portrait, our research strongly suggests that it is a previously uncatalogued portrait of John Tyler, 1790-1862, Governor of Virginia (1825-27), U.S. Senator, and tenth President of the United States (1841-1845).
Below are side-by-side comparisons with known portraits and daguerreotypes of John Tyler during his career – with the Mahockney portrait on the right in each pair:
Tyler portrait by John Wesley Jarvis, 1826; painting has remained within the Tyler family, reproduction below in John Wesley Jarvis, American Painter, 1780-1840. With a Checklist of His Works (New York Historical Society, 1949):
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Tyler engraving c. 1826, in the archives of the Virginia Historical Society:
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Tyler by artist Thomas Sully, circa 1841, now in Mead Art Museum at Amherst College:
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Tyler in “…a lithograph drawn from life and published by Charles Fenderich in 1841, just after Tyler’s accession to the presidency.” Now in the National Portrait Gallery collection, Washington DC:
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Tyler portrait circa 1842 by G.P.A. Healy:
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Tyler while President, daguerreotype by Mathew Brady, 1845:
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Tyler, daguerreotype circa 1860:
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- Go back to the main Tyler Portrait page
- Comparisons with other portraits by Charles Bird King
- Timeline of Tyler and King careers – When was the painting done?
