Jacques Reich, 10 Aug 1852 - 8 Jul 1923 - John Paul Jones - c. 1899-1920 - T-Shirt

This pen-and-ink portrait gives John Paul Jones as a bare-crowned head and shoulders, lifted slightly and turned toward the viewer's left, with the stern composure of a commander who expects to be obeyed.

Visual Elements & Composition

Cream paper dominates the design, with ink black carrying the strongest lines and warm grey softening the shadows. The bust sits in the centre of a vertical field, framed by dense vertical and diagonal hatching that darkens behind the head and fades toward the edges. A high, stiff collar rendered in tight horizontal strokes props up the chin, and the uniform coat is marked by large round buttons set in pairs. The artist's signature sits in the lower left, just below the first button.

Meaning & Symbolism

Jones was a Scottish-born officer who became one of the first commanders of the Continental Navy during the Revolution. His most celebrated action came in 1779, when his ship Bonhomme Richard fought the British frigate Serapis off the English coast. He is widely regarded as a founder of the United States Navy, and his reputation grew after his remains were brought to Annapolis. The portrait joins the young navy to its first heroic figure. Jacques Reich, who lived from 1852 to 1923, signed the drawing, which the catalogue places between c. 1899 and 1920, when Revolutionary naval heroes were popular subjects in illustrated histories and commemorative prints.

Wearing the Portrait

Hatching this dense reads well at a distance, so the head stays readable from across a room as well as up close. The bold contour lines hold their shape on a shirt, and the bust sits centred on the chest where the eye lands first. Worn, it carries the same resolute, austere presence the original drawing has.