Chace, George Ide (1808-1885)
Role: Professor of Chemistry, Geology, and Moral & Intellectual PhilosophyDates: 1833-1872
Portrait Location: Library Annex
Artist: Lincoln, James Sullivan (1811-1888)
Portrait Date:
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 29 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. (74.93 x 62.23 cm.)
Framed Dimensions: 42 x 37 1/4 in. (106.68 x 94.62 cm.)
Brown Portrait Number: 49
Brown Historical Property Number: 1391
George Ide Chace earned his Bachelor's degree in 1830, followed immediately by a Master of Arts degree. He served as a tutor for a year at Brown before being made a full professor. He remained a professor for nearly four decades. His career was punctuated by two honorary Doctor of Letters degrees, one from Brown and the other from Bucknell University, both received in 1853. As a professor he taught a range of courses, including mathematics, chemistry, physics, physiology, geology, and moral and intellectual philosophy. His specialty was chemistry, and he became an expert in metallurgy. His work turned more toward metaphysical topics in his later career. Chace also served Brown as president ad interim from 1867 to 1868. Other commitments included serving as chairman of the Rhode Island Board of State Charities and Corrections, trustee of Butler Hospital, president of Rhode Island Hospital, and alderman of Providence.
Artist James Sullivan Lincoln, originally of Taunton, Massachusetts, apprenticed as an engraver, but turned to full-time painting in 1837. From that moment until his death he reigned as Providence's premier portraitist. In his later years he often painted from photographs, as he did in the case of the George Chace commission, producing portraits that are considered less strong than his earlier works This portrait was presented to the college by Chace's widow during the 1885-86 academic year.