[Christian Febiger, 1746-1796, oval bust prortrait, facing right]

Share

The sitter here is Christian Febiger, a Danish-born soldier who rose to a colonel's command in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and was known by the nickname "Old Silver Heels." The image shows him as an oval bust, turned to his right, a format that was popular for printed portraits of officers and public figures in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when engravings were often made from paintings or earlier likenesses and circulated widely. The caption card records no date or artist, so the print's exact origin is uncertain, but its style places it among the many reproductions that helped keep Revolutionary-era figures in public memory. Febiger's service on the frontier and in the main army makes him a useful figure for studying how such portraits shaped the way the war was remembered.

More from the Historic Print Archive collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.