# Samuel Warren Holland, Aged Two Years

**Unknown artist**  
19th century  
oil on wood panel  
26 1/8 x 22 1/8 in. (66.5 x 56.1 cm)

Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1986.65.119. [The museum's record](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=10752).

## About this work

This image of a young boy has been attributed to the artist Milton Hopkins, who painted portraits in New York State and Ohio during the first half of the nineteenth century. We know little about the sitter, Samuel Holland, because there were several people of the same name living in the United States at that time. The artist painted a whip to show that the child was male, a necessary symbol in a period when boys wore skirts until they were five or six. The boy gazes directly at the viewer with large dark eyes that stand out against his pale skin and fair hair, and his fancy costume suggests he was a member of a wealthy household. Early in the nineteenth century, children often died in infancy, and parents commissioned portraits of their sons and daughters as keepsakes.

_Text from the Smithsonian American Art Museum._

An unrecorded artist painted this in 19th century. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.

### How it was made

- **Oil on panel.** Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Real size: about 26 × 22 in (67 × 56 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Subjects: Men, Portraits, Children
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1983.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1983/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/samuel-warren-holland-aged-two-years-si-saam-1986-65-119).