In 1780, General Arthur St. Clair commissioned a miniature of himself from renowned Philadelphia artist Charles Willson Peale. A few years later, Peale created this duplicate for his own collection, and later added St. Clair's portrait to his Philadelphia Museum, possibly in honor of his rescue of the Fort Ticonderoga garrison. The City of Philadelphia later bought St. Clair's portrait at the 1854 Peale Museum sale.