Three-quarter length portrait of Benjamin Ellery, Sr. (1670-1746) , facing left. Holding cane in right hand; left arm is holding a black hat at his side and his left hand is gloved, holding the other glove. Wearing a grey coat buttoned twice at waist and white collar which is folded in pleats and hangs down chest; wearing white wig; ships at sea in upper left corner in lower right corner a sword handle protrudes from coat. Subject was a merchant and judge to the Colonial Assembly; also grandfather to the William Ellery who signed the Declaration of Independence. Reference: Mary Black, article on Aetatis Suae Limner, American Art Journal Vol. XII, No. 4 (Autumn 1980), pp. 4-31. Black attributes the four Ellery paintings in the upper Hudson manner to Nehemiah Partridge, Albany artists who migrated to Virginia in the early 1720s.