MACKINAC CITY (WWJ) - Two portraits from 1790 depicting a commandant at Fort Michilimackinac and his wife will soon be on display in a Northern Michigan museum after they were purchased from an overseas auction house, officials announced on Tuesday.
Mackinac State Historic Parks said they were able to buy the paintings of Arent and Rebecca DePeyster from Bellmans Fine Art Auctioneers, an action house based in London.
Arent -- an American-born military officer in the British Army -- served as captain and commandant at the Crown-controlled Fort Michilimackinac from 1774 until 1779, the organization said.
The portraits of the couple were passed down in the DePeyster family until the end of the twentieth century, the organization said. The Mackinac State Historic Parks said they became aware of the paitnings within the last couple of decades after photo copies of the artwork was shared with the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland.
“This is an exceptional addition to our collection,” said Steve Brisson, Mackinac State Historic Parks Director, in a prepared statement. “DePeyster was a prominent individual in the early history of this region, and it is gratifying to bring these treasures home to Michigan.”
The organization said the paintings were bought for $47,000 after members were notified they were for sale from historian and author Brian Dunnigan, who was alerted to the auction through a colleague.
The organization was able to buy the artwork through the Martin and Patricia Jahn Collections Development Fund and the portraits will be displayed at The Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum starting this summer.
Officials said the museum opens for the 2023 season May 12.
According to the Encyclopedia of the American Revolution: Library of Military History, Arent played a critical role in negotiating peace between the Sioux and Ojibwas tribes while at Fort Michilimackinac, which stood in modern-day Mackinac City.
He served at Fort Michilimackinac for five years before being promoted to Major and assumed control at Fort Detroit during the American Revolution where he successfully won the support of several Indian nations. He is noted for sending volunteers to serve the British army during this time.
Historians state Arent was he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the Eighth Foot and left Michigan to serve at Niagara.
He eventually served in England in 1785 and less than a decade later in 1793, he sold his commission and retired to Dumfries, Scotland.
According to the encyclopedia, Arent spent his last years devoting himself to poetry before he died in Dumfries on 26 Nov., 1832.