Governor Winthrop and His Wife with Boston Lancers

George Cochran Lambdin
American, ca. 1830-1896.
Signed and dated (l.l.): 1869
Oil on canvas
22 ½” x 26 ½” framed
Condition: Excellent
George Cochran Lambdin was born in Pittsburgh in 1830, the son of James Reid Lambdin, a well-known portrait painter. He received most of his early training from his father. In 1838, George moved to Philadelphia where he lived until his death in 1896. In 1848, at the early age of 18, Lambdin exhibited his first painting at the Pennsylvania Academy. During the early period and through the 1860’s, Lambdin’s success came from painting genre scenes with much sentimentality. Childhood and civil war scenes were at the forefront.
Our painting shows Governor Wiinthrop and his wife with the Boston Lancers. (who can be identified by their distinct uniforms) in front of a civil war encampment.  Here, we see strong elements of Lambdin’s  early style as well as hints of where he would go later in his career, namely in the flowers. While today George Cochran Lambdin is well known for his paintings of flowers and genre scenes, his civil war paintings are quite rare and sought after. In fact, the record price for a Lambdin is held by a civil war scene. In 1998 a painting entitled Winter Quarters in Virginia brought $189,500 at auction. Paintings by George Cochran Lambdin can be found in major institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to name a few.