Ezekiel Goldthwait, by John Singleton Copley Postcard

John Singleton Copley was an American painter, active in both colonial America and England. He was probably born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Anglo-Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects. His paintings were innovative in their tendency to depict artefacts relating to these individuals' lives. Goldthwait spent most of his life in public office. From 1740 to 1776 was a public servant in Boston from 1740 to 1776. Copley alludes to his subject’s profession of record keeper by depicting him seated at a desk with writing implements and with quill and inscribed papers in hand. Ezekiel Goldthwait commissioned Copley to paint the portraits of himself and his wife towards the conclusion of his career.