Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Portrait Miniature of Henry Fowle (1766-1837) with Case and Frame
ca. 1804
William M.S. Doyle (1769-1828)
USA: Massachusetts, Boston
a: watercolor on ivory; b: leather, silk, metal; c-d: metal
b: (closed) 3-1/2"h x 3"w x 1"d, (open) 3-3/4"h x 6"w x 3/4"d; d: 3-1/2"h x 2-1/2"w x 1/4"d; c: 3"h x 2-1/2"w x 1/8"d; a: 2-3/4"h x 2-1/4"w x 1/16"d
Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts
GL2004.4597a-d

a: Oval miniature bust portrait of a man (Henry Fowle). Gray ground. Subject has white hair and long sideburns. He wears a dark blue double-breasted coat, a white shirt with ruffle in front, a white stock or cravat and a white vest. b: Red leather oval-shaped case with white silk padded lining on both sides. Hinged; pair of clasps on the side. c: The front part of the frame, which is a copper-colored piece of metal in an oval shape. d: The back of the frame, also copper-colored metal with with a loop at top center. The back is engraved "HF."

Starting around 1803, the artist William Doyle began offering paintings, silhouettes, and death masks to Bostonians. He created pocket-sized paintings of several active Freemasons, including the subject of this work, Henry Fowle, in the early 1800s. Around the time Doyle captured this likeness, Fowle held an office at the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. For further information, see Newell, Aimee, et al., "Curiosities of the Craft: Treasures from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Collection," 2013, p. 244-245.