THE SAMUEL AND ELIZABETH BRIDGHAM BED AND PORTRAITS

THE SAMUEL AND ELIZABETH BRIDGHAM BED AND PORTRAITS
With Two Portraits of Samuel Bridgham (May 4, 1774 – December 28, 1840) and his wife Elizabeth Paine Bridgham (1776–1853).

Bed – Providence, Rhode Island, Circa 1800

Primary Wood: Mahogany, Painted White Pine Headboard
Secondary Wood: Maple rails

Height; 84 inches without tester
Width; 56 inches
Depth: 76 inches

Portraits attributed to Samuel Lovett Waldo and William Jewett
Circa 1835

Frames: 46 X 38 1/2 inches
Sight size: 35 3/4 X 28 1/2 inches

Label on the reverse of Mrs. Bridgham state
“30. WALDO, SAMUEL L. and JEWETT, WILLIAM (Attributed to)
American, in partnership, 1817-1854.
Mrs. Samuel Bridgham, c. 1830.
Oil on canvas.
Lent by Mrs. Pickett M. Greig.

Provenance: The bed and portraits originally made for Samuel and Elizabeth Bridgham of Providence. They descended in the family until they were sold in 2022. Samuel Bridgham is one of the most consequential citizens of Providence, Rhode Island. A graduate of Brown University, he became a lawyer before entering politics. He served nineteen terms in the Rhote Island General Assembly, including two as the Speaker. He also served as Attorney General of Rhodel Island for four years. In 1821 Bridgham ran for Governor of Rhode Island on the Federalist Ticket but lost to William C. Gibbs. When Providence was incorporated as a city in 1832, he was elected its first Mayor. He served in that office until his death in 1840, at the age of 66. Bridgham became the first mayor of Providence at a time when disorder and vice threatened the city. His solutions were free public education, temperance, and relief for the poor. He laid down foundations for good municipal government in Providence and served during one of the city’s most significant expansions of the public school system. A copy of the portrait here offered is in Providence City Hall.

Outside politics in 1821 he was elected Trustee of Brown University. He served as Brown’s Chancellor from 1828 to 1840. For nineteen years he was the President of the Benevolent Congregational Society in Providence. Bridgham was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813.

The unusual heart shaped inlay on the bed posts relates to a Providence clock case made for Peleg Arnold and housing a Caleb Wheaton movement. Please see Christie’s, Important American Furniture, January 2020, Lot 365.

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