New London - The New London County Historical Society wanted an old whaling captain to return to his home port for good, but its members will have to settle for a mere visit instead.

The new owner of a portrait of John P. Rice, who lived on Granite Street in New London during the 19th century and headed up the local "Stone Fleet'' during the Civil War, has offered to loan the painting to the society.

The society wants to discuss an exhibition of the painting with the Lyman Allyn Art Museum and the Mystic Seaport Museum.

"We'd be pleased if it hangs in New London for a while,'' said the collector, who purchased the Isaac Sheffield oil painting for $57,500 in November and plans to put it in the study of his yet-to-be-built retirement home on Martha's Vineyard.

The collector, who is from the South and asked not to be identified, currently has a summer home on the Vineyard

that was built in 1780. He's amassed several whaling items for his summer homestead, which was built by a fortune made on whale oil.

The local historical society, which owns two Sheffield paintings, wanted to buy the Rice portrait when it went up for auction at John McInnis Auctioneers for an estimated $10,000. Deborah Donovan, president of the society, had hoped a benefactor would step forward, but the $57,000 purchase price put the painting out of the organization's reach.

Today, Donovan is delighted that the portrait of Rice, who was known as Capt. Bony Rice, might come to New London, if only for a visit.

"He really was an interesting character in New London, and New London is still filled with interesting characters," Donovan said.

In addition to whaling for several companies, Rice became the "commodore" of New London's segment of the Stone Fleet. The Union government purchased old whaling ships, loaded down the vessels with ballast and sailed them to South Carolina, where they were sunk in Charleston Harbor to form a blockade. The ships were filled with New London cobblestones and old granite left from construction of New London buildings, Donovan said. The blockades, she added, were unsuccessful.

Donovan said she hopes the historical society can find a way to display the Rice portrait and the two portraits it owns.

"It would have been nice to have it in our collection,'' she said. "But (the new owner) seems so excited. This is someone who appreciates the art and the history. He's willing to share it with us, and that's very generous."

The collector said he was drawn to the portrait because of the whaling activity that appears just off the captain's shoulder in the background. Such detail is part of the artist's signature. Sheffield (1798-1845) was an itinerant painter who was born in Guilford and later settled in New London. He was known for his portraits of sea captains.

The painting was reframed about 50 years ago, the buyer said, and mistakenly labeled as a sea captain from Stonington. He said his two teenage sons think the painting is "pretty cool.''

The painting is not signed, but the collector is having art experts examine it for traces of a pencil signature. Sheffield also painted a portrait of Rice's wife, which sold at auction a couple of years ago. He said he would like to find it and buy that one, too.

"Hopefully, the husband and wife will be reunited,'' he said. "Stay tuned."

Edward Baker, executive director of the historical society, said is it nice to have a piece of local history gain some renown in the art world.

"It's a bittersweet excitement,'' he said. "That something like this that is part of our local history would sell for a nice price is good, but really, it removes it from the public, and we represent the public."