South Carolina lawyer Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was educated in England. This portrait, by Philadelphia artist Henry Benbridge, probably dates from 1773, the year that he married Sarah Middleton and also became a lieutenant in the Charleston militia. After studying painting in Italy and in London, Benbridge had come to Charleston in 1772. There, his sophisticated knowledge of Italian colors and compositions won him numerous commissions for portraits. He initially depicted Pinckney in a scarlet coat trimmed with a black velvet collar and cuffs, the uniform of the militia's Light Infantry Company. Two years later, when the First South Carolina Regiment was organized by the Provincial Congress, Pinckney became a captain in the regiment, and his coat was repainted in its present colors to represent his new uniform. Traces of the earlier red uniform are visible along the edges of Pinckney's left sleeve. After the Revolution Pinckney served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was minister to France from 1796 to 1798.

Henry Benbridge (1743-1812)
Oil on canvas, circa 1773
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
NPG.91.152

Enlarged image

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