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Primary sourcePainting1783-1784

American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain

Benjamin West · 1783-1784

Benjamin West's unfinished 1783 painting depicting John Jay with fellow American peace negotiators Adams, Franklin, Laurens, and William Temple Franklin.

Jay is depicted at left among the American commissioners who negotiated peace with Britain.

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Oil painting, unfinished sketch, of five men in 18th-century dress with powdered wigs. Standing at left, a young man holds a rolled paper. Seated at center left and center, two men; a bearded man in dark clothing leans forward over a large sheet of paper. Two men stand and sit at right in fur-trimmed and white attire, against a green draped curtain and cloudy sky.
Benjamin West, American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Agreement with Great Britain, 1783-1784. Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware.

About this source

What it is

This unfinished oil painting by Benjamin West shows the American delegation that negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris: John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin, from left to right. It dates from 1783-1784 and is held at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in Delaware.

Why it matters

The painting captures the American negotiators early in the peace process. Benjamin Franklin never posed in person, and the British delegates refused to sit for the portrait at all, leaving the right side blank. This absence reflects Britain's reluctance to commemorate its defeat and the lingering tension between the two nations even as peace was being made.

Look closer

  • Why do you think the British commissioners refused to pose for this painting?
  • What might the painting's unfinished state tell us about the difficulties of commemorating this moment in history?
  • How does the formal setting, with drapery and classical architecture, shape how we see these men?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of John Jay on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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