Ebenezer Storer 1767 - 1769

John Singleton Copley painted this portrait of Ebenezer Storer in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Copley was the pre-eminent portraitist of the Boston elite, and this painting offers a glimpse into the visual codes of status in colonial society. Storer's silk banyan and turban-like cap speak to a life of leisure and learning. These were markers of a certain social class, of course, but they also indicate the importance of transatlantic trade networks. A merchant or professional man like Storer would have had access to imported goods and materials. Looking closely, we might ask ourselves whether Copley is simply reproducing this world, or subtly critiquing it. How do we know what he thought of his sitter? For that, we might turn to letters, diaries, and other archival sources. By understanding art as embedded in social and institutional structures, we get a richer understanding of the past.