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Like his father before him, Stephen Salisbury III became a member
of
the American Antiquarian Society as a young man, elected in 1863,
at the
age of twenty-eight. He became a Councillor in 1874 and, after the
death
of his father in 1884, was made vice president. Three years later,
Salisbury
became president of the Society. His interest in South American
archaeology
shaped the direction of the institution's collecting during his
tenure.
Early imprints from Mexico and Central America were added to the
Society's
holdings and papers on archaeological expeditions to the Yucatan,
many
sponsored by Salisbury, were published in the Proceedings of the
American
Antiquarian Society.(1) According to his obituary, Salisbury,
'always
manifested a most practical interest in [the Society's] welfare;
in season
and out of season he always had its interests at heart and was
always
ready to give up other business and cares to consult and advise
with those
associated with him in its management.... Very few of our
members... knew
of the great amount of time and thought he gave to the Antiquarian
Society...'(2)
In his will, Salisbury left the Society $200,000, the largest
single financial
bequest it had ever received up to that time. These funds were
used in
1909-10 to build the Society's current building at the corner of
Park
Avenue and Salisbury Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Stephen Salisbury III was born in Worcester and was the only son
of
the wealthy businessman Stephen Salisbury II. The younger Stephen
graduated
from Harvard College in 1856 and spent several years travelling in
Europe
and Asia before returning to complete his law degree in 1861.
Salisbury's
interest in archaeology was sparked during his first visit to the
Yucatan
Peninsula in 1862. He wrote several essays on South American
archaeology
for the Proceedings, including 'Dr. LePlongeon in Yucatan,' (1877)
and
'Terra Cotta Figure from Isla Mujeres,' (1878).(3) Salisbury's
personal
papers, which include his notes for various essays and speeches,
as well
as personal and business correspondence, are preserved in the
Society's
manuscript collection.(4)
At his father's insistence, Salisbury purchased a substitute
during
the Civil War and stayed home to help manage the family's
extensive holdings
of property and businesses in Worcester County. Like his father,
Stephen
Salisbury III served one term in the Massachussetts Senate, was
president
of the Worcester National Bank, and directed the Worcester &
Nashua
Railroad. He was a trustee of the Worcester City Hospital and
Worcester
Polytechnic Institute.(5) Salisbury's greatest achievement was his
establishment
in 1896 of the Worcester Art Museum. His financial generosity, as
well
as gifts of paintings and objects from his personal collection,
contributed
to the museum's prominence among art institutions in the
region.(6)
This portrait of Salisbury was commissioned by the American
Antiquarian
Society after the sitter's death. Vinton, who was born in Bangor,
Maine,
studied painting with the artist William Morris Hunt (1824-79) in
Boston
and continued his art education in Europe. He took classes at the
École
des Beaux Arts in Paris and worked with the American painter Frank
Duveneck
(1848-1919) in Munich, Germany. Although Vinton maintained a
studio in
Boston, he made regular trips to Europe to study art.(7)
In 1908, Vinton's 1891 portrait of Stephen Salisbury III was, as
it
is today, part of the collection of the Worcester Art Museum.(8)
Arrangements
were made for it to be sent to Vinton's Boston studio where the
artist
made a copy of the canvas for the Society, that included several
minor
changes. AAS member Andrew McFarland Davis (1833-1920), who
provided the
funds to purchase the copy, noted in a letter to the Society's
President
Waldo Lincoln, 'I regard the removal of details in the background
and
the substitution of a cane for the hat in the right hand as an
essential
improvement. The reproduction of the features seems to me to be
almost
perfect.... I think the Society will be glad to hang the picture
on its
walls and I should not wonder if after a little it were considered
the
better picture of the two.'(9) Vinton delivered the painting,
although
it was unfinished, in time for the Society's spring meeting in
April of
1908. He wrote to Lincoln, 'The "Salisbury" is on the
easel
in the room where you are to meet tomorrow. I was unable to get
down to
his honorable legs, but I will do so at once when the portrait is
returned
to me.'(10) Vinton finally completed the canvas in June of
1908.(11)
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1) For more on the Society's Latin American collection,
see Under
its Generous Dome, The Collections and Programs of the American
Antiquarian
Society, 2nd ed., Nancy H. Burkett and John B. Hench, eds.,
(Worcester:
American Antiquarian Society, 1992), 89-91.
2) Nathaniel Paine, 'Salisbury Memorial,' Proceedings of
the
American Antiquarian Society 18 (October 1907): xxx.
3) Salisbury further developed this research in three
books on
the Mayan culture, The Mayas and the Source of Their History
(1877), Maya
Archaeology and Notes on Yucatan (1879) and Maya History and
Mexican Copper
Tools (1880).
4) Salisbury Family Papers 1674-1908, American
Antiquarian Society
Manuscript Collection.
5) For more on Salisbury's achievements see Waldo
Lincoln, 'Stephen
Salisbury,' New England Historical and Genealogical Register 60
(October
1906): 326-29.
6) For more on the Worcester Art Museum see Selected
Works (Worcester:
Worcester Art Museum, 1994).
7) American Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
1 (Boston:
Museum of Fine Arts, 1969): 277-78.
8) Vinton's 1891 portrait of Salisbury is illustrated in
Selected
Works, 9.
9) Andrew McFarland Davis to Waldo Lincoln, May 3, 1908,
American
Antiquarian Society Archives. Specific changes include the removal
of
a bookcase in the background at left, the substitution of a cane
for a
top hat held in the sitter's right hand, the inclusion of a table
at right
and the reduction of the number of papers and books on the desk at
left.
10) Frederic P. Vinton to Waldo Lincoln, April 14, 1908,
American
Antiquarian Society Archives.
11) Vinton's June 12, 1908 receipt for payment of $1,800
is preserved
in the American Antiquarian Society's Archives.
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