Americana featuring Bruce Wendel Gameboards and Clifford A. Wallach Tramp Art
Wed, Oct 21, 2026 10:00AM EDT
Live Auction
Lot 157A
Samuel Broadbent Attb. - Connecticut Portraits of Luman and Betsey Wakefield
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Sold for
$6,000
Sold Price excludes BP
Bid Increments
| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $25 |
| $200 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $200 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 | $2,000 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $10,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $50,000 |
Pair of portraits by Dr. Samuel Broadbent (1759–1828) Attb., depicting Dr. Luman Wakefield (1787–1850), a physician, and his wife Betsey Rockwell Wakefield (1789–1831), both natives of Colebrook who settled in Winsted, Litchfield, Connecticut, each seated in a green-painted chair. Luman holds a copy of Dr. Benjamin Rush’s (1746–1813) An Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits. Verso with identifying inscription for each sitter. Oil on canvas. Housed in the original molded-edge frames. Connecticut, circa 1820.
Frame: H 35-1/4 in. W 31-1/4 in. Canvas: H 30 in. W 26 in.
About the Artist: Born in England, Samuel Broadbent had settled in Wethersfield, Connecticut, by 1798, where he practiced as a physician and surgeon and painted portraits of his patients, recording the commissions in his medical account books alongside their treatments. He remained active in both pursuits well into his sixties, painting sitters near Winsted in New Hartford and Harwinton into the 1820s and still attending patients in 1827, the year before his death. That a doctor-painter portrayed Luman Wakefield, himself a physician, gives the present pair a particular resonance.
Condition
Re-lined. Inspected under UV light. Minimal retouch on female.
Available payment options
Shipping/Pickup
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Luman Wakefield (1787–1850) and Betsey Rockwell Wakefield (1789–1831), Winsted, Connecticut; by descent to their daughter, Lucy Clarissa Wakefield Phelps (1820–1867), Winsted; to her daughter, Elizabeth Newhouse Phelps Soule (1856–1945), New Haven, Connecticut; to her son, Launcelot Phelps Soule (1883–1968), Sellersville, Pennsylvania; thence by descent in the family.
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