CESAR SAY (French, 19th century). Portrait of JOHN HOLMES OFFLEY, Georgetown ,Washington D.C. Gentleman, artist and subject identified on frame plaque. Oil on canvas. - Framed, 27 in. x 22 in. signed and dated on front of canvas (under frame) Estimate $1,200-1,500
John Holmes Offley (1802-45) served in the U.S. War Department as Acting Chief Clerk, was a Vestryman at St. John's Episcopal Church, Georgetown, and was a founding member of the predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution. He was married to Catherine Van Rensselaer Heaton from Westchester County, NY. Offley is buried in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC. This portrait was painted by Cesar Say in Marseilles, France, in 1826 when the sitter was twenty -four years old.
