LOT 163
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Lot 163
WILLIAM MERCER (American active 1773-1850)
Portrait of Young Man Holding a Writing Slate - Possibly a Self-portrait – 1842
Oil on oak wood panel
Signed lower right “William Mercer Philadelphia 1842” and verso with later label inscribed “William Mercer Portrait of Adam Munro age 14”
11 inches x 8.3 inches
Estimate:  $500 - 800   € 370 - 600
Price Realized: $480.00



William Mercer flourished in Philadelphia from 1773-1850. His exact date of birth at this time is unknown. He was primarily known as a painter in oils and a miniaturist. He was the deaf and mute son of Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer who died of wounds sustained at the Battle of Princeton and was a pupil of the noted portraitist Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) who considered him a son. In an installment of his “Reminiscences” circa 1855, Rembrandt Peale, son of Charles Willson Peale wrote that “Under my father’s tutelage, Mr. Mercer became an excellent portrait painter, and continued his profession till his death a few years ago.” The American deaf community considers Mercer one of the first known congenitally deaf individuals in the United States to become a distinguished artist. Unfortunately, with the exception of the painting of the Battle of Princeton and an oval miniature on ivory of Edmund Pendleton of Virginia, now held by the Virginia Historical Society of Richmond, most of Mercer’s other works have been lost.
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