Joseph Alexander Ames Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Joseph Alexander Ames Art Value Price Guide

Mar. 20, 2026
MANNER OF JOSEPH ALEXANDER AMES (1816-1872) OIL ON CANVAS PORTRAIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Frame, 28.5"h. 24.25"w. Canvas, 24"h. 20"w.
Est: $500 - $1,000
MANNER OF JOSEPH ALEXANDER AMES (1816-1872) OIL ON CANVAS PORTRAIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. American, Late 19th Century. Impressionistic perspective of Lincoln soon after growing his beard. In a period gold leaf frame.
Amelia Jeffers
Apr. 29, 2025
JOSEPH ALEXANDER AMES, AMERICAN, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW YORK, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1816-1872, PORTRAIT OF GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON, Oil on canvas, 30 1/4 x 25 in. (76.8 x 63.5 cm.), Frame: 35 3/4 x 30 1/8 in. (90.8 x 76.5 cm.)
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
JOSEPH ALEXANDER AMES AMERICAN, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW YORK, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1816-1872 PORTRAIT OF GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON Oil on canvas Lower right signed and dated: J. Ames / 1862 Catalogue note: Joseph Ames, a self-taught portrait painter, was born in 1816 into a prominent family of Roxbury, New Hampshire. Achieving moderate success in his home region, he relocated in 1841 to Boston, which remained his primary residence for over 25 years. There he fell under the spell of Washington Allston; like a number of young artists, he attempted to emulate Allston's "old master" technique of successive glazes and rich, "Titianesque" color. His opportunity to see the Italian masters firsthand came in 1848, when he traveled to Rome with a commission from officials of the American Roman Catholic Church to execute a full-length portrait of Pius IX. This large painting (8 x 12 ft., present location unknown) was exhibited in Boston the same year and at the National Academy of Design, New York, in 1850. It served as Ames' introduction to the latter city and received a great deal of press attention. Although Ames never seems to have lacked for business (Tuckerman estimated his production at 75 portraits a year), there is evidence that his later reputation in Boston did not live up to early promise. During the 1850s, he sought additional markets in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and during the summers, he traveled to Newport, Rhode Island, in search of commissions. In Boston he remained active in the art community, exhibiting regularly at the Boston Athenaeum and participating in the formation and governance of the Boston Artists' Association, the Boston Art Club, and the Allston Club. In addition to portraits, he occasionally showed landscapes and genre paintings. Above all, however, he became known for his likenesses of Daniel Webster, of which he painted at least nine. His Last Days of Webster (c. 1856, Bostonian Society), a deathbed scene with over twenty figures, was--like his portrait of Pius IX--engraved and widely distributed. Ames rented a studio in New York in the early 1860s; by 1869, he had left Boston permanently to begin a new phase of his career in Manhattan, where he was received by critics as a follower of William Morris Hunt. The National Academy immediately elected him an Associate member, and in 1870, a full Academician. His New York residence was nevertheless short-lived, for three years after his arrival, in 1872, he died of "brain fever," leaving a wife (the sculptor Sarah Fisher Clampitt) and several children (one of whom, Josephine Ames, eventually became a painter). [This is an edited version of the artist's biography published in the NGA Systematic Catalogue]
Potomack Company
May. 04, 2019
Joseph Alexander Ames Portrait Painting of a Man
Est: $500 - $800
Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire,1816-1872 Finely executed portrait of a distinguished gentleman with full red beard and black suit standing with a cane. Ames was a famed portraitist hired to paint Pope Pius IX (1792-1878), a portrait later exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1850. His brother Nathan Ames (1826-1865) invented the first escalator.
Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers
Jan. 26, 2019
Joseph Alexander Ames Portrait Painting of a Man
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire,1816-1872 Finely executed portrait of a distinguished gentleman with full red beard and black suit standing with a cane. Ames was a famed portraitist hired to paint Pope Pius IX (1792-1878), a portrait later exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1850. His brother Nathan Ames (1826-1865) invented the first escalator.
Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers
Sep. 15, 2012
Joseph Ames (MA,1816-1872), Major Robert Anderson
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Joseph Ames (MA,1816-1872), Major Robert Anderson oil on canvas, signed and dated "Jos. Ames / 1861" in lower right, depicting Major Robert Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter during the Confederate bombardment of April 12, 1861. Anderson is seated with Fort Sumter in the background and wears red artillery shoulder boards. Presented in its original gilt and gesso frame. SS 35.5 x 28.25 in.; DOA 48 x 41.5 in. This historical painting was produced within months of the event which made Major Anderson a celebrity. Ex. Skinner Auction 2524B, Lot 832, November 7, 2010. The canvas is laid down to cardboard; repairs and in-painting to the head and the front of the major's frock coat.
Leland Little Auctions
May. 24, 2011
OIL PAINTING, JOSEPH ALEXANDER AMES
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
JOSEPH ALEXANDER AMES (American 1816-1872) Portrait of Captain George H. Bush of the 13th Regiment of the Massachusetts Infantry (post mortem) Oil on canvas Signed lower right J. Ames 1865 54 inches x 40 inches. Contained in original massive press molded gilt frame
Jackson's International
Nov. 20, 2010
Joseph Alexander Ames (1816-1877), portrait of abraham lincoln, Unsigned, oil on canvas, framed.
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Joseph Alexander Ames (1816-1877) portrait of abraham lincoln Unsigned, oil on canvas, framed. 29 1/4 x 24 1/4 (sight) PROVENANCE: Accompanying portrait is a portfolio entitled "Documents certifying the genuineness of original sketch Abraham Lincoln painted by Joseph Ames." Included in this portfolio is an affidavit from William J. Barry , Boston Ma. detailing the 1910 gift of portrait to him from John W. Bruty , who was willed the portrait by E. Phillip Rinn, a Boston, architect and friend of the Ames, who was willed the portrait by Ames' estate. Also included is a note from William Lambert to William Barry, dated 1910, a typed letter from Ida Tarbell of the American Magazine, dated January 12, 1910, and another letter from Jan. 1, 1920, from Horace R. Burdick , "This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief the portrait of Abraham Lincoln in the possession of and owned by William J. Barry Esq of Boston is the original sketch made by Mr. Ames after seeing and talking with President Lincoln & from which he painted the full length portrait of Lincoln now in Faneuil Hall & the Chamber of Commerce. This opinion is based upon a personal acquaintance of several years with Mr. Ames when he was doing his best work and when he & I occupied studios at 12 West St, during which time I saw & talked with him frequently & saw this sketch in his possession & heard it referred to as his original study of Lincoln's head. Horace R. Burdick, 16 Park Ave. Malden." Also included is a bill of sale of the portrait from John Bruty to William Barry, dated November 19th 1909, and a photocopy of bill of sale from Leggatt Brothers, London, dated 25th January 1956. Another version of this portrait hangs in the library of Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate.
Freeman's | Hindman
Sep. 11, 2010
Joseph Alexander Ames (American, 1816-1872),
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
Joseph Alexander Ames (American, 1816-1872), "Portrait of General George Washington", oil on canvas, signed and dated "1862" lower right, 30 in. x 25 in., in an antique frame.
Neal Auction Company
May. 16, 2010
Joseph Alexander Ames, American, 1816-1872, Portrait of Anne Walker Eldess, oil on canvas, 21 1/4 x 17 in., framed
Est: $700 - $1,000
Joseph Alexander Ames American, 1816-1872 Portrait of Anne Walker Eldess oil on canvas 21 1/4 x 17 in., framed
Alex Cooper
Jan. 23, 2009
Joseph Alexander Ames (1816-1872), 1864-1865
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
Joseph Alexander Ames (1816-1872), 1864-1865 Portrait of Abraham Lincoln inscription on stretcher reads I was given __ my/grandfather, Martin Parry Kennard/and came to me before his death/Wilfred Buckley oil on canvas 22 1/8 x 16 in.
Christie's
Mar. 12, 2006
JOSEPH AMES (American, 1816-1872) PORTRAIT OF FREDERICK O. PRINCE oil on canvas; bears Museum of Fine Arts label on verso stretcher inscribed with artist name, title, owner and dated September 15, 1883; Note: This portrait of Frederick O. Prince,
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
JOSEPH AMES (American, 1816-1872) PORTRAIT OF FREDERICK O. PRINCE oil on canvas; 42 x 30 inches; bears Museum of Fine Arts label on verso stretcher inscribed with artist name, title, owner and dated September 15, 1883; Note: This portrait of Frederick O. Prince, mayor of Boston in 1877 and 1879-1881, was loaned to the Museum of Fine Arts by Prince himself in 1883. Most likely executed by Joseph Ames in the early 1850's during Princes tenure as a Massachusetts Representative (1851-1853) or a Senator (1855). Ames, born in Roxbury, New Hampshire, was a self taught portrait painter who opened a Boston Studio and established himself by painting portraits of prominent Massachusetts citizens.
Grogan & Company
Jun. 20, 2003
JOSEPH ALEXANDER AMES (American 1816-1872) PORTRAIT OF ELISHA UPTON
Est: $800 - $1,200
JOSEPH ALEXANDER AMES (American 1816-1872) PORTRAIT OF ELISHA UPTON signed and dated " 1852, " oil on canvas 39 x 32 in.
Freeman's