Thomas Sully
Born Horncastle, England, June 19, 1783.
Died Philadelphia, November 5, 1872.

The Capture of Major André, 1812
Oil on canvas
22 3/8 x 30 3/8 in. (56.8 x 77.1 cm)
Gift of Andrew J. Bates II, 1991.113

Inscription
Lower right, in thin black paint: "TS [cipher] 1812"

Provenance
Thomas Sully; to Francis Kearny (1785–1837), April 6, 1812;1 to Ezra Trull (1775–1848) of Boston;2 to his daughter Catherine Elizabeth Trull Tarbell (Mrs. John Tarbell) (1815–1902);3 to her daughter Katharine A. Tarbell (1844–1911), probably by bequest;4 to her first cousin once removed, Mrs. Edgar Bates (Evelyn Trull) (1881–1979); to her son Andrew J. Bates II (1911–1996).

References
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1812, 15–16.

M[urray] 1812, 22–23.

Svinin 1829, 156–58.

Scharf and Westcott 1884, II, 1048.

Hart 1908, 394.

Biddle and Fielding 1921, 28, 335, no. 2088.

Yarmolinsky 1930, 36.

Rutledge 1955, 220.

O’Neal 1960, 74.

Kammen 1978, 105.

Reynolds 1992, 66.

"La Chronique des Arts: Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 1992," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 121 (March 1993): 57.

Abrams 1995, 58, 342.

Cray 1997, 384.

Exhibition
Second Annual Exhibition of the Society of Artists of the United States, and the Pennsylvania Academy, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, May 11–June 20, 1812, cat. no. 15.

Notes
1. Sully’s "Journal," April 6, 1812, 14.

2. The probate inventory for Ezra Trull’s listed five paintings, including "1 Major Andrew (Sully) $100.00." See Suffolk County Probate Record for Ezra Trull, 1848, no. 35706.

3. Presumably, Catherine did not inherit the painting until after her father’s death in 1848, since it was included in his probate inventory. However, on the top of the frame is an inscription in pencil that reads: "C. E. Trull." See also Skeate 1993, I, 40, 89.

4. In her will, Catherine Elizabeth Trull Tarbell left "all my personal property of every kind, whatever, including . . . paintings, engravings, pictures" to her unmarried daughter, Katherine. See Suffolk County Probate Record for Catherine Elizabeth Trull Tarbell, 1902, no. 122309.