I love an antique photograph of a painting, especially a portrait, but this one is special because I have have identified the subject and even more so because I am fairly certain this painting of him was done by now widely renowned early 19th c. itinerant New England/New York folk artist Ammi Phillips. A google image search turned up exactly one useful citation--an image of this particular portrait on "Find a Grave" in conjunction with the gravestone of Edenezer William Walbridge (1779-1856) in the Lansingburgh Village Cemetery in Rensselaer County, NY. A little more searching reveals a known portrait of Walbridge's wife Sally Morgan Walbridge painted by Ammi Phillips in 1820 (included in photos), which led me to think this one might be too. And, indeed, looking at portraits by Phillips from around 1820 (I've included two in photos) it seems highly likely that this is hers too--they even have matching drapes! That's my best original research in a while--and perhaps a real discovery as I can find no other reference to it.
Walbridge served as an officer during the French and Indian War. In the Revolutionary War he served as Colonel and Brigadeer General (1787), and fought at the Battle of Bennington where his brother Henry was killed in 1777. In 1782 he built a grist mill and four years later built the first paper mill in Vermont.
6 9/16" x 4 5/16" and in good condition, with light general wear and bumps to corners.
