Cogdell was a close friend of Fraser and, like him, was both lawyer and artist. Admitted to the Bar in 1799, he also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1810 - 1818) and became Comptroller General of the State in 1819. In 1832 he was elected President of the Bank of South Carolina. As an artist he was a painter -- of religious subjects, such as the Crucifixion in St. Mary's Catholic Church, as well as of portraits -- and as a sculptor he carved busts and memorials, such as the one to his mother in St. Philip's Church.
The portrait is a carefully painted and sympathetic likeness, and makes an interesting comparison to Fraser's miniature of thirty years later. Smith's confident handling of the medium may derive from his training in London, which in turn explains the resemblance his work bears to Malbone's.
Notes:
This text is adapted from Martha Severens "The Miniature Portrait Collection of the Carolina Art Association" published by the Carolina Art Association, 1984
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