Elias Ball III

Elias Ball III

Henry Benbridge
Charleston, South Carolina
1785
Oil on canvas
2019.12
Friends of the Museum Purchase, with partial funding from the Illinois Society, NSDAR

The ability to own a portrait was a luxury in the 18th century. To afford such a commodity one had to have disposable income. For southern colonials like Elias Ball, that meant owning land. Ball displayed his portrait and other fashionable and expensive goods on his six properties throughout the South Carolina Lowcountry. The income used to afford this lifestyle came from the enslavement of more than 600 Africans.