Smithsonian American Art Museum
John Watts
George Edwin Bissell, born New Preston, CT 1839-died Mount Vernon, NY 1920 · cast 1890
Born in 1749, John Watts was a merchant, politician, and philanthropist from New York, where he was elected Speaker of the Assembly and represented his state in the Third Congress of the United States. In this portrait, George Edwin Bissell emphasized Watts's political legacy by modeling the figure with his right arm outstretched, as if he were speaking. His left hand holds a scroll, representing Watts’s status as a senior statesman.
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