Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000230Nathaniel Hurd
About the Artwork
Hurd was a prominent silversmith and engraver in Boston, and the warm gaze and unforced smile in his portrait by Copley suggest the friendship between the two artists. Hurd's open-collared shirt, as well as the rakishly tilted turban that covers his shaved head in place of a ceremonial powdered wig, create an air of informality that is unusual for a portrait of this time.
Provenance
-1781: Benjamin Hurd [1739-1781], Halifax, Nova Scotia, by descent to his son, John Hurd 1781-: John Hurd, Halifax, Nova Scotia, by descent to his two daughters -by 1860: Daughters of John Hurd [d. by 1860], Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Mrs. Thomas Barry By 1860-1869: Mrs. Thomas Barry [d. 1869], Halifax, Nova Scotia, by gift to Walter Wesselhoeft 1869-1915: Walter Wesselhoeft [1838-1920], Cambridge, MA, consigned to the Copley Gallery 1915: (Copley Gallery, Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1915-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Exhibition history
Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916). The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936). The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). Silver and American Tradition. Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI (organizer) (February 13-March 19, 1953). Style, Truth and the Portrait. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 1-November 19, 1963). Four Centuries of American Masterpieces. 1964 New York World's Fair, New York, NY (May 1-October 18, 1964). John Singleton Copley: A Retrospective Exhibition. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer) (September 18-October 31, 1965); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (November 20, 1965-January 2, 1966); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (January 22-March 6, 1966). The Face of Liberty. Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX (organizer) (December 23, 1975-February 8, 1976). John Singleton Copley's America. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (June 7-August 27, 1995); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (September 26, 1995-January 7, 1996); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (February 4-April 28, 1996). Nathaniel Hurd. Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, NY (November 22, 1999-April 10, 2000). CMA @ Oberlin - American Portraits. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 29-December 17, 2006).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- John Singleton Copley (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1738–1815)
- Date
- c. 1765
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 90.5 x 78 x 6.5 cm (35 5/8 x 30 11/16 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 76.2 x 64.8 cm (30 x 25 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
- Accession no.
- 1915.534
More by John Singleton Copley in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00000230
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