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William Fitzhugh (1651-1701) by an unknown artist, copied in 1751 by John Hesselius from a portrait of 1697. This powerful image is one of the most important to survive from early America. Fitzhugh, who wrote of the need to present a "creditable" appearance in order to be respected in Virginia, is dressed in the finest and most stylish of English wigs and costumes. In his own words, he lived "comfortably & handsomely." He entertained visitors with "good wine, ... three fiddlers, a jester, a tight-rope dance, [and] an acrobat who tumbled around." He furnished his thirteen-room house with tapestries and an extraordinary collection of 122 pieces of English silver. Fitzhugh, however, was never entirely comfortable in Virginia. Born and raised in England, he called the colony "a strange land." The unpredictable fluctuations of the tobacco economy made him acquire vast tracts of land as a guard against failure. The silver answered well his conflicting urges for luxury and moderation. He terms his collecting both "reputable" and "politic," meaning that silver made a social statement yet could be melted down if he needed cash. |