American Art Collaborative

Edward Shippen Burd (1779-1848) was a well-respected Philadelphia lawyer. In 1810 he married Eliza Howard Sims. The couple had eight children, all of whom died before their parents. After his death in 1848, his widow commissioned a monument to be erected at Philadelphia's St. Stephen's Church and established a school for orphaned girls in his honor. Rembrandt Peale captured Burd in a happier time of life, several years after he had been admitted to the bar. The light bouncing off his forehead, the tip of his nose, and the corner of his chin accentuate his smooth and glowing complexion. Burd's alert gaze and upright posture convey the confidence of a young man whose future, at least at that point, looked bright.