Click for  MORE DETAIL (large file, please wait for it to load)

This remarkable 157 year old find is a picture painted in England when Joseph Stay was 19 years old. The original in the Paula Vilburn collection is about 15" X 24". This is the picture used to identify the earliest picture of Joseph Stay. This picture was painted before photography was in general use. The picture is typical of the period which shows the facial features in good detail. The body of Joseph is what we today would call boiler plate.

Script on bottom Right reads:
Joseph Stay Born Apr. 24, 1882
Painted Apr. 24, 1841 age 19
Died Jan 5, 1903

[BACK]