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Cephas Thompson

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Cephas Thompson (1775 - 1856) was active/lived in Massachusetts.  Cephas Thompson is known for Portrait, animal.

A successful Massachusetts portrait artist, he was also well-known in the South where he spent many winter seasons.  Records show that he was in Baltimore in 1804, Charleston in 1804, 1818, and 1822, in Richmond in 1809-1810, and in NewOrleans in 1816.

As a young man, Cephas Thompson carved a number of slate gravestones in the area around Bridgewater and Halifax, Massachusetts.  22 of these have been identified, dated approximately 1788 through 1803. One of these is signed. Most have distinctive winged faces ("cherubs") and some have willows and urns. Cephas' maternal uncle Isaac Thompson, Sr. (who was also his father-in-law), and whose portrait he painted, was also a gravestone carver, as were five of Cephas' cousins.

Sources include:
Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor), Who Was Who in American Art

Additional information courtesy of James Blachowicz, author of From Slate to Marble: Gravestone Carving Traditions in Eastern Massachusetts 1770-1870.   ...  [Displaying 1000 of 1893 characters.]  Artist bio

Artist auction records

.  askART's database currently holds 23 auction lots for Cephas Thompson (of which 14 auction records sold and 0 are upcoming at auction.)

Artist artworks for sale and wanted

.  There are 2 artworks for sale on our website by galleries and art dealers . There are 1 galleries and art dealers listing works of art by Cephas Thompson as either "Wanted" or "For Sale" .

Research resources

.  askART lists Cephas Thompson in 0 of its research Essays. Cephas Thompson has 0 artist signature examples available in our database.





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Facts about Cephas Thompson

   Cephas Thompson  Born:  1775 - Middleboro, Massachusetts
Died:   1856 - Middleboro
Known for:  Portrait, animal

Biography from the Archives of askART

A successful Massachusetts portrait artist, he was also well-known in the South where he spent many winter seasons.  Records show that he was in Baltimore in 1804, Charleston in 1804, 1818, and 1822, in Richmond in 1809-1810, and in NewOrleans in 1816.

As a young man, Cephas Thompson carved a number of slate gravestones in the area around Bridgewater and Halifax, Massachusetts.  22 of these have been identified, dated approximately 1788 through 1803. One of these is signed. Most have distinctive winged faces ("cherubs") and some have willows and urns. Cephas' maternal uncle Isaac Thompson, Sr. (who was also his father-in-law), and whose portrait he painted, was also a gravestone carver, as were five of Cephas' cousins.

Sources include:
Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor), Who Was Who in American Art

Additional information courtesy of James Blachowicz, author of From Slate to Marble: Gravestone Carving Traditions in Eastern Massachusetts 1770-1870.


Biography from Shapiro Auctions New York

Cephas Giovanni Thompson was the son of the well known early 19th Century self-taught portrait painter Cephas Thompson, who was born, lived and worked in Middleboro, Massachusetts.  Like his father, Cephas was born in Middleboro.  Initially working in Plymouth, Massachusetts, he would travel the East Coast, working in Boston, Bristol, and Philadelphia before settling in New York City.

Thompson established a studio in the University Building at Washington Square in New York, and became a fashionable artist known not only for his portraitures but also for his allegorical and romantic scenes, often featuring beautiful young women.  Two canvases that he painted during this time, Spring and Autumn were exhibited at the Apollo Association in 1839.  Spring is currently in the Permanent Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York.


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