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THOMAS JEFFERSON IN 1803. AGE 60. MODELED BY GEORGE MILLER.
From the original bas-relief in gypsum by George Miller, now owned by the American Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia. Size, 4 by 6 inches. This finely executed portrait and the one of Washington (reproduced in McClure's Magazine for February, 1897) are the only works of this character by Miller that have come under my notice. Miller was one of the original associates of the Society of American Artists, formed in May, 1810. That he had versatility as a modeler is shown in that he made not only life-size busts and miniature bas-reliefs, but also a statue of Venus, in wax, "life size and coloured to nature," which was exhibited in Philadelphia at the Apollodorean Gallery from 1812 to 1815, when it was taken to Baltimore. It is curious to note that in the earlier days it was not considered derogatory to art for the craftsman to liberally advertise. Thus we find Miller, in 1815, announcing in the Philadelphia newspapers that he has "taken a shop directly opposite the new theatre, where he continues to model likenesses in wax, composition and in plaster of paris of any size." He concludes by "returning his most grateful acknowledgments to those ladies and gentlemen who seconded his efforts by their kind patronage and protection, without which he must have abandoned this branch of the fine arts or sought another clime to have exerted his abilities. Peace has opened a new field for his prospects, and he hopes through the fostering protection of a discerning public to succeed in his labors." Dunlap says, "from necessity he turned gold beater." So much for the state of the arts among us fourscore years ago. The bas-relief reproduced was originally the property of Zeligman Phillips, one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1805, a prominent criminal lawyer, and a pronounced follower of Jefferson's school of politics. From him it descended to his son, the late Hon. Henry M. Phillips, of Philadelphia, who presented it to the American Philosophical Society, of which Jefferson was the third president. It is inscribed with the date and artist's name, in the handwriting of its original owner, Zeligman Phillips.
