The Many Faces of Esek Hopkins:
A Personal Commentary

The only known authentic portrait of Esek Hopkins is contained in a painting called Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam by John Greenwood (1727-1792). The painting was done c.1752-1758 and is owned by the St. Louis Art Museum. The tradition of the Jenckes family, the original owners, was that the four men in the center of the table were (left to right): Nicholas Cooke, Esek Hopkins, Stephen Hopkins (asleep), and Joseph Wanton. Here is the detail showing Cooke, Esek Hopkins, Stephen Hopkins, and Joseph Wanton:

Below is the full painting:

Other commentators give the date of the painting as 1755. There is some controversy as to whether the man in red was actually Stephen Hopkins, as per the said tradition. Brown University professor Robert Kenney believed that this man must have been Esek and Stephen's other brother, William, since Stephen was at the time running for re-election as Governor, and tied up in court in Worcester, Massachusetts while suing his arch rival Samuel Ward for slander. The two men in the middle are clearly related, as can be seen from the portrait.

The next portrait of Hopkins is clearly a complete fabrication. This was presented in The Hibernian magazine, Dublin, Ireland, August 1776. The engraver also provided an incorrect forename for Hopkins. Compare the fleshy face and figure with the rather slender face and figure in the Greenwood portrait.

The mezzotint below was published in London by Thomas Hart, August 22, 1776. This is another complete fabrication.

The next image is one published by Dupin in Paris, France, probably about 1777. This is a decidedly youthful looking version of Hopkins, and is certainly another fabrication. Note the two interpretations of American flags.

The portrait is an engraving published in France during the war, perhaps about 1779. Perhaps the single most interesting thing here is the “Serapis” flag shown on the ship in the background. Note the general similarity to the French Dupin engraving.

Next we have some engravings from the 19th century. This is an engraving of Hopkins published by J.C. Buttre, New York, during the 19th Century. It includes a facsimile of Hopkins' signature. This Hopkins looks like he’s in his twenties. Again there is facial similarity to the French engravings.

This engraving is by J. Rodgers, and was published during the 19th century by Virtue, Emmins & Co., New York. It contains portraits of Esek Hopkins, Silas Talbot, John Paul Jones, Richard Dale and John Barry. This is still another interpretation of Hopkins, but at least he looks a little older.

Below is a detail of the Hopkins portrait from the Rodgers engraving:

Finally, Here is a beautifully done modern painting by Orlando S. Lagman. This small work (about 4" by 5") is done after the Buttre engraving. Despite the quality of the painting the subject shown is a youthful figure in a Continental Navy uniform. Hopkins was 58 in 1776.

All of the above engravings and portraits are not authentic representations of Esek Hopkins, except the first one. From first to last they do demonstrate the persistance of historical error. The contemporary engravings from Ireland and England were fantasies. These were copied in France. From there they moved into later books, and now, onto numerous web based sites and "encyclopedias."

Posted 15 June 2008

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