William Reese Company Original Works of American Art

48 Pages·2015·10.29 MB·English

William Reese Company
americana ● rare books ● literature
american art ● photography
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Bulletin 41
Original Works of American Art
Beautiful French Album of Watercolors of Lepidoptera After Abbot

1. [After Abbot, John]: [ALBUM OF WATERCOLOR DRAWINGS OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS AFTER
ABBOT, TITLED IN MANUSCRIPT:] HISTOIRE NATURELLE DES LÉPIDOPTÈRES LES PLUS RARES DE
GÉORGIE D’APRÈS LES OBSERVATIONS DE M. JEAN ABBOT. IMPRIMÉ À LONDRES EN 1797. [France.
1800-1830]. Manuscript title within a red ruled border, 2pp. manuscript index in rear. Forty pen-and-ink and watercolor
drawings, each captioned in red ink, recto only on 40 sheets of wove paper (watermarked Horne). Oblong octavo. Con-
temporary half black morocco and blue boards, yellow endpapers. Lacks front free endpaper. Very good.

John Abbot was one of the most important Ameri-
can natural history artists and his illustrations
are amongst the finest ever made. Born in Lon-
don in 1751, Abbot sailed for Virginia in July
1773, with orders for both actual specimens and
drawings of the local insects. For the next two
years he continued to collect and paint, sending
home three insect collections, although only one
arrived safely. The loss of these two valuable
collections at sea together with the worry over
political unrest in Virginia led Abbot to move
to Georgia. He settled in St. George Parish
(later Burke County), Georgia in December
1775. Abbot traveled widely throughout Georgia
devoting his time to the study of the natural
flora and fauna. The flow of specimen collec-
tions and watercolors of insects ensured that his
name became known to many of the foremost
natural scientists and collectors of the day, both
in America and Europe.

Abbot’s NATURAL HISTORY OF THE RARER
LEPIDOPTEROUS INSECTS OF GEOR-
GIA was first published in London in 1797.
The present French manuscript includes forty
watercolors based on the plates from that edi-
tion. The images comprise fifty-three depictions of butterflies and moths on the forty sheets, with eleven of the images
including depictions of the lepidoptera in caterpillar form and several with depictions of flora and/or chrysalis. Each
image is captioned in French above or below the image and numbered 1to 40 in the upper right corner; the alphabetical
index corresponds to each watercolor ensuring that no images have been removed from the album.

Between 1829 and 1837 interest in Abbot in France was greatly elevated due to the publication of a new work based on
Abbot watercolors commissioned by lepidopterists Jean Baptiste Boisduval and John Eatton LeConte. It would seem pos-
sible that this album was related in some way to lepidopterist Jean Baptiste Boisduval.
Vivian Rogers-Price, JOHN ABBOT IN GEORGIA: THE VISION OF A NATURALIST ARTIST (Madison, Ga.:
Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, 1983). John V. Calhoun, “A Glimpse into a Flora et Entomologia” in JOURNAL OF
THE LEPIDOPTERISTS’ SOCIETY 60:1 (2006). $14,000.
A Rare Period Oil Painting of an Act in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show:
A Great Show Business Painting

2. Agoust, Alfred (French, b. ca. 1870): [BUFFALO BILL AND THE “FRENCHMAN’S BOTTLE GAG,” A COMIC
TABLEAU FROM THE WILD WEST SHOW]. 1893. Oil on canvas, laid down on wood, 22 x 30 inches. Signed and
dated lower left: “Alfred Agoust / 1893.” Titled: “Buffalo Bill” on Kennedy Gallery labels. Provenance: Kennedy Galler-
ies; Collection of Edward Eberstadt & Sons. Superb displayable condition. Handsomely presented in a period-style gilt
American exhibition frame.

This entertaining painting depicts a version of the comedy pantomime routine called “The Frenchman’s Bottle Gag”
performed in England by Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. The painting shows a bewildered Buffalo Bill ready to
come to blows with two Cockney characters stealing drinks from his flask. A prominent historian of performance tells us:
“The gag, made famous in Paris by the Scanlon Brothers and their collaborator, the Agoust Family Jugglers, in the long
playing three-stage acrobatics, magic, and pantomime spectacular, Le Voyage en Suisse, usually involves two clowns, a
ridiculously dressed Frenchman, and his bottle. The clowns steal his bottle and surreptitiously sneak sips back-and-forth,
as the bewildered Frenchman desperately attempts to figure out who’s got his bottle. This image is of costers or pearlies,
East End London cockneys, victimizing the Buffalo Bill character - the old Hanlon & Agoust drinking routine re-costumed
for the Wild West show’s British audience.”

Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show made two extensive tours of England and Europe prior to the date of this painting:
1887-88, arriving for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee; and 1889-93, playing the great theaters and fairgrounds. The 1893
tour was at the height of the show’s fame. The 1893 show program states: “Since the visit of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West to
England and its remarkable engagement in London, at West Brompton, in 1887, a history and tour have been made, such
as no organization of its magnitude and requirements ever accomplished.”

Henri Agoust, the Hanlon’s long-time collaborator (the parties later fell out and sued each other in a bitter legal dispute),
had a son named Alfred, a member of the Agoust Family Jugglers. According to a census of traveling show people, he
would have been in his early twenties in 1893. His biography is otherwise unknown. It seems likely that the juggling
Alfred Agoust was also the well-trained, talented artist responsible for this magnificent show business painting, its atten-
tion to costume, props, and comic gesture demonstrating the specialized knowledge of the insider.

Almost all images of the Wild West Show are found in the great lithographic posters and photographs produced by the
William F. Cody publicity machine. Period oil paintings of the Buffalo Bill act are very rare indeed. This wonderful
image, showing a comic routine Buffalo Bill evidently adopted from European circus acts, is a unique contribution to the
iconography of the Wild West Show.
John A. McKinven, THE HANLON BROTHERS. THEIR AMAZING ACROBATICS, PANTOMIMES AND STAGE
SPECTACLES (Glenwood, Il.: David Meyer Magic Books, 1998), passim. BUFFALO BILL’S WILD WEST AND CON-
GRESS OF ROUGH RIDERS OF THE WORLD (Chicago: Blakely Printing Company, [1893]), passim. British Fairground
Ancestors, Showmen, Circus and Fairground Travellers Index. $47,500.
Fueling the Gold Rush
3. [Alaska]: Kruse, Max H.: CITY BREWERY IN SKAGWAY
ALASKA. SACKE, PROPR. [Skagway, Ak.] June 29, 1900.
Pen and ink drawing, 8 x 5 inches. Faint smudging along lower
edge. Overall bright and clean. Near fine.
A lovely sketch of an Alaska brewery, showing a large brew
house set against the side of a hill, with several outbuildings in
the background. The large sign above the door reads, “City
Brewery,” and the proprietor is shown tapping a keg in the
middle foreground. A quaint picture of the support industry
so vital to the Klondike Gold Rush. $1250.
Original Drawing of a Key Western Military Post

4. Alden, A. F.: [ORIGINAL PEN AND INK DRAWING OF FORT D. A. RUSSELL, WYOMING TERRITORY,
1869]. Fort Russell, Wyoming Territory. August 1869. Single sheet of heavy gauge paper, 8 x 11 inches. Three tiny punch
holes near the top edge, a few pinholes at top left corner. Very good.

A beautifully-executed ink and wash drawing of Fort
D. A. Russell, Wyoming Territory, near present-day
Cheyenne. It is titled, “Ft Russell. from the South.”
Fort Russell was established in 1867 to protect workers
building the Union Pacific Railroad, and was named
in honor of David Allen Russell, a Civil War general
killed at the Battle of Opequon. The post remained
a key fort throughout the various conflicts with the
Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes of the region over
the decade after its establishment.

Nothing is known of the artist, who signs the drawing,
“A. F. Alden, Del. Aug. 1869.” He could have been
a company artist for the Union Pacific Railroad, or
perhaps a young soldier memorializing his experiences
in the West. Whoever he was, his eye for detail was
extraordinary. The drawing shows the fort from the
south, a dense cluster of buildings situated on a ridge,
proudly flying an American flag at center. A visually
evocative historical work from the American West.
$12,500.
A Manuscript Panoramic View
of Camp Apache, Arizona Territory

5. [Arizona]: [Anderson, G.]: CAMP APACHE, ARIZONA, 1876. [Camp Apache, Az.]. Aug. 5, 1876. Gray watercolor,
highlighted with red, white, and blue watercolor, on paper. Image size: 16¼ x 21 inches. Sheet size: 20 x 25 inches. Titled
in block letters in the lower margin. Signed and dated lower mid-left image: “G. Anderson / Aug. 5th 1876.” Provenance:
Kennedy Galleries (labels); Collection of Edward Eberstadt & Sons. Three short marginal tears expertly repaired. Excel-
lent displayable condition. Matted and glazed, in a modern decorated gilt frame.

A panoramic view of Camp Apache, a U.S. Army stronghold in the Indian reservation established on the White Moun-
tain River in southeastern Arizona Territory to control the White Mountain and Cibecue Apaches. Indian fighter Gen.
George Crook and his Apache Scouts (pacified Apaches who wore U.S. Army uniforms) operated from the base, attempt-
ing to control the marauding tendencies of the wild tribes. The fort was originally built in 1870 as Camp Ord under the
supervision of Brevt. Col. John Green of the U.S. 1st Cavalry. It was renamed several times: first Camp Mogollon, then
Camp Thomas, and then Camp Apache (its name when this drawing was done). The post was designated with its famous
appellation of Fort Apache in 1879.

In 1869, Green explained the strategic reasons for establishing the camp:

“I have selected a site for a military post on the White Mountain River which is the finest I ever saw. The climate is delicious,
and said by the Indians to be perfectly healthy, free from all malaria. Excellently well wooded and watered. It seems as
though this one corner of Arizona were almost its garden spot, the beauty of its scenery, the fertility of its soil and facilities
for irrigation are not surpassed by any place that ever came under my observation. Building material of fine pine timber
is available within eight miles of this site. There
is also plenty of limestone within a reasonable
distance. This post would be of the greatest
advantage for the following reasons: It would
compel the White Mountain Indians to live on
their reservation or be driven from their beauti-
ful country which they almost worship. It would
stop their traffic in corn with the hostile tribes,
they could not plant an acre of ground without
our permission as we know every spot of it. It
would make a good scouting post, being adjacent
to hostile bands on either side. Also a good supply
depot for Scouting expeditions from other posts,
and in fact, I believe, would do more to end the
Apache War than anything else.”

The camp is pictured in 1876, shortly after Gen.
August Valentine Kautz had taken command of
the Department of Arizona. “G. Anderson” is
not a recorded artist. Possibly he was a soldier
with some training in drawing who was stationed
at Camp Apache. An American flag, painted red,
white, and blue (the only object in the paint-
ing not painted EN GRISSAILLE) flies above the parade ground. The camp is shown in fine detail, in the valley of the
White Mountain River, with canyons and mesas in the near distance. More than sixty buildings are depicted, including
headquarters, the commanding officer’s residence, junior officers’ billets, enlisted men’s barracks, squad huts, privies, and
work sheds. At the camp entrance in the right foreground, functioning as a decorative cartouche for the picture, stands
an Indian brave in a feathered headdress, loincloth, and leggings, leaning on a long rifle.

A fine historical graphic record of one of the most storied western forts.
Howard R. Lamar, ed., NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AMERICAN WEST (New Haven & London: Yale University
Press, 1998), p.39. White Mountain Apache Tribe website: http://wmat.us/wmahistory.shtml. $15,000.
A Large Watercolor View of Ascension Island

6. [Ascension Island]: [WATERCOLOR VIEW OF COASTAL FORT, PROBABLY ASCENSION ISLAND]. [Ascen-
sion. ca. 1830s]. Watercolor on paper, approximately 15 x 22¾ inches, irregularly shaped. Chipped along edges; 1½-inch
vertical tear in the sky at top-center; 1½-inch horizontal tear in the water at far-right center. Framed and matted. Very good.

An attractive watercolor view of a small coastal fort and
settlement, probably at Ascension Island in the South
Atlantic Ocean. The painting, a bird’s-eye perspective
facing the sea, shows an austere coastal landscape in
reds and browns, with a Union Jack flying from the
small fort on a hill near the settlement of one- and
two-story buildings. In the foreground a gentleman
in a colorful suit stands with a staff or pike, and others
survey the scene with a telescope. Near the structures
waves crash upon a sandy and rocky shore, and four
ships sail in the distance. A later ink inscription on
the verso of the painting reads, “Ascension,” and the
scene strongly suggests Ascension Island in the South
Atlantic, part of the British dependency of St. Helena,
and an important stopping point for ships rounding
the Cape of Good Hope throughout the age of sail.
Few images of Ascension have survived from this early
period. $3750.
A Romantic Painting of Baltimore in 1840

7. [After Bartlett, William Henry]: [OIL PAINTING OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND]. [ca. 1840]. Oil on canvas,
18 x 24 inches. Titled in shaded red block letters lower center: BALTIMORE. Bearing signature lower right: “W H
Bartlett.” Provenance: Kennedy Galleries (label); Collection of Edward Eberstadt & Sons. Original canvas and stretcher,
in excellent condition.
A beautiful and richly colored painting, this view
of Baltimore Harbor is based on the print of
Baltimore in William Henry Bartlett’s 1840 view
book, AMERICAN SCENERY.... Bartlett painted
Baltimore quite fancifully, giving it the Levantine
look found in his other American cityscape (his
view of Boston is very similar to this picture).
The city appears as a magnificent white pyramid
of shimmering buildings, towers, smokestacks, and
statues rising over the harbor, a few commercial
and pleasure crafts at sail. The painting is close
in perspective and detail to French marine artist
Louis Le Breton’s 1840 engraving of Baltimore
Harbor, which also gives the appearance of a
Middle Eastern city.

Bartlett, London-born painter, watercolorist,
draftsman, engraver, is thought to have exhibited
at the Royal Academy, circa 1831-34. An intrepid
traveler, his lifetime itinerary included visits to
the Balkans, the Near East and edges of the Orient, North America, and, finally, death in a shipwreck off Marseilles. He
is best remembered today for AMERICAN SCENERY (1840) and its companion CANADIAN SCENERY (1842), based
on his travels in America after 1836. Bartlett travelled extensively in Canada and America, sketching and painting the
principal cities and famous scenic vistas of North America for publication in the view books.

A slightly larger version of this painting of Baltimore is exhibited by the Maryland Historical Society.
WHO WAS WHO IN AMERICAN ART, Vol. 1, p.225. BENEZIT (Grund, 2006), Vol. 1, p.1235. $18,500.
8. Borein, Edward: [ORIGINAL PENCIL SKETCH OF A GROUP OF MEXICAN MEN]. Amica, Mexico. 1898.
Pencil sketch, 6½ x 9½ inches (visible size within the mat). Framed and matted. Near fine. Not examined out of frame.

A nice pencil sketch by the acclaimed Western artist, Edward
Borein, done early in his career. The drawing shows five Mexican
men, seated and standing, wearing ponchos and sombreros. It
was likely done by the young artist as a figure sketch. It dates
to Borein’s first sojourn to Mexico. Borein was working as a
vaquero on a ranch in Malibu and creating art on the side, when
the ranch owner financed a trip for him to Mexico. Borein
went there in 1897, and remained in Mexico until 1899. The
town of Amica is in the province of Jalisco and is located just
northwest of Mexico City. Signed in pencil by Borein along
the lower left edge.

John Edward Borein (1872-1945) was born and raised in Cali-
fornia. He worked on ranches as a young man before attending
art school in San Francisco, and returned to ranching in the
1890s. He left ranching behind at the turn of the century to
concentrate exclusively on art, and rose to the front ranks of
Western illustrators. A nice, early image by an influential Western artist. $1750.
An Original Gold Rush Drawing by One of the Best Observers of the Events

9. Borthwick, John David: [ORIGINAL SIGNED PENCIL SKETCH, FROM LIFE, OF A SCENE IN A CALI-
FORNIA GOLD RUSH TOWN]. [N.p., near San Francisco. ca. 1851]. Original pencil drawing, 5¾ x 8½ inches. Backed
on thicker stock to an overall size of 6¾ x 9½ inches. Signed in the lower right, “J. D. Borthwick.” Light foxing in the
image, minor toning around the edges. Near fine.

J. D. Borthwick was a Scottish artist and journalist, leaving his native land in 1847 to see North America. After traveling
from Canada, down to New Orleans, then back up to New York, like most young men of his generation, Borthwick caught
gold fever, moving to San Francisco in 1851. He spent the next three years traveling throughout the California gold country,
eagerly observing and sketching the people and places he encountered, with a special regard for the ethnic peoples he met.
He ventured to other parts of the world and then returned to Scotland in 1856. The next year, he published a memoir about
his time in gold country called THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA, including his experiences in various gold camps near
Sacramento, Coloma, Nevada City, San Andreas, Sonora, Jacksonville, Downieville, and Placerville. The book is generally
regarded as one of the most entertaining first-
person accounts of the early Gold Rush period.
His illustrations for the gold rush period were
also published in various periodicals, including
HUTCHING’S CALIFORNIA MAGAZINE,
HARPER’S WEEKLY, and the ILLUSTRATED
LONDON NEWS.

Borthwick’s drawing here depicts what must have
been a fairly standard gold camp, with makeshift
tents, and numerous men in western gear mill-
ing about. One of the tents is labeled, “Adams
& Co. Express,” a courier company founded in
San Francisco in 1849 to send gold dust to the
east coast. An amazing primary source of the
mad rush for gold in California in the mid-1800s
by an accomplished artist, and author, of the
period. $4000.
Beautiful Botanical Watercolors

10. [Botanical Watercolors]: [ALBUM OF FIFTEEN WATERCOLORS OF
PLANTS, FLOWERS, FRUIT, AND A BIRD]. [American. n.d., ca. 1850]. Fifteen
watercolors total, heightened with gum arabic, ranging in size from 2 x 2 inches,
to 7 x 6 inches. The illustrations are bordered either by lace or gilt and affixed to
colored paper, or are done on a sheet with a lithographic border. Interleaved with
blank colored pages, some of them with stamped or lithographic borders. Quarto.
Original morocco album, elaborately stamped in blind and gilt, expertly rebacked in
matching style, a.e.g. A bit of light rubbing to extremities of boards, corners worn.
Internally clean, with the colors very bright. Near fine. In a half morocco and cloth
slipcase and chemise.

A lovely album of quite accomplished amateur watercolors depicting plants, flowers,
fruit, and a bird. The style of the album binding is American, as are some of the tree
leaves illustrated, but neither the album nor any of the illustrations are signed. It
is evidently the work of a talented amateur, skilled in the use of watercolors. Each
illustration has been carefully highlighted with gum arabic in order to heighten
certain colors or shades. Among the images is a bouquet of autumnal oak leaves, a
branch of plums, a group of cherries, a rose, pansies, and several other plants and
flowers. One of the largest and most striking illustrations is of a bird perched upon
a leafy branch with blue coloring on its head and back, brown feathers at the tips of
its wings, and a white belly. A very appealing example of the mid-Victorian fashion
for creating personal albums of artistic renderings of nature. $4500.
Painting of a Cuban Sugar Plantation in the 1850s

11. [Attributed to Brownell, Charles DeWolf]: [CUBAN SUGAR PLANTATION]. [Cuba. ca. 1850s]. Oil on canvas,
13½ x 23½ inches. Excellent displayable condition. Framed.

This attractive landscape painting depicting a Cuban sugar plantation was almost certainly executed by artist Charles DeWolf
Brownell, in the mid to late 1850s. As would be customary with Brownell, who was greatly influenced by the artists of the
Hudson River School, the image is dominated by the Cuban landscape of lush greenery, rolling hills, and blue sky, with
the main buildings on the edges of the work. There are various types of trees dotting the landscape, as well as shrubs, a
stone fence, and livestock. At the bottom of the painting a horse ridden by a black servant pulls a barranca-style carriage
occupied by a woman in a pink dress. In the center a man in a white suit and hat walks up a hill toward the plantation
house beside a horse carrying a similarly dressed man. Five of the plantation structures are depicted. The main house,
a white two-story gabled building with a balcony, is on the far left. A woman stands in the doorway. On the far right of
the painting is a slat-roofed building with a large billowing chimney and slaves at work. In the center of the image are
three more buildings: a thatch-roofed hut filled with sugarcane, and two storage buildings. The sky is bright blue, with
pillowy white clouds rolling by.

Charles DeWolf Brownell (1822-1909) was born in Rhode Island and spent most of his adult life in Hartford and New
York City. Trained as a lawyer, he abandoned the law out of conscience and turned to painting. He was greatly influenced
by the Hudson River School, and his
most notable works are landscape
paintings. His maternal relatives,
the DeWolfs, owned several sugar
plantations in Cuba, and beginning in
1854, Charles Brownell spent seven
consecutive winters on the island.
He returned to Cuba several times
over the ensuing decades. He trav-
eled throughout the island, boarding
in several plantations. Inspired by
the Cuban landscape, he created a
number of paintings of the island,
including portraits of plantations
done as commissions to help pay his
expenses. In his diary Brownell notes
that these commissioned paintings
usually brought between forty and sixty dollars. The present work, painted in oil on a relatively modest size canvas, is in
keeping with the style and form of these other works. A 1991 Kennedy Gallery exhibition catalogue of Brownell’s work
notes that these paintings of Cuban plantations survive in only a small number. A fine representation of mid-19th-century
Cuban plantation life. Early paintings of Cuba are rare.
Kennedy Galleries, CHARLES DeWOLF BROWNELL (1822-1909), EXPLORER OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE,
March 1991. $15,000.
19th-Century Painting of the Arctic Oil Works in San Francisco,
the Principal Whale Oil Refinery on the West Coast

12. [California]: [Bosqui, Edward]: ARCTIC OIL WORKS SAN FRANCISCO. CAL. [1883]. Oil on canvas, 18 x 26
inches, on original wooden stretcher, with letters in lower margin, after the lithographed view of the same title published
by Bosqui. Very good.

“Edward Bosqui was born in 1833 in Montreal, of
French descent. When he was about seventeen years
old he decided to go to California. He went by
way of Panama, where like a good many others who
headed for the Gold Rush in those days, he became
stranded. He worked his way up through Mexico, a
hazardous trip, but young Bosqui survived the many
hardships....He arrived in San Francisco in the lat-
ter part of 1850, and his first job was as cashier of
the first bank to be established there. Afterwards
he served as General Fremont’s secretary. He first
went into the printing business in 1859 at Clay and
Leidesdorff Streets and stayed at that location for
thirty-nine years. Bosqui did bookbinding as well as
printing and lithography....He printed the EVENING
BULLETIN in the early days of its existence, and
did a great deal of commercial label work” - Peters.

The Arctic Oil Works was established on a Bay side
pier between 17th and 16th streets in 1883 to produce
refined oils from seals, whales, and elephant seals.
Soon after opening, it became the largest oil refinery on the West coast. In 1902 the oil works became incorporated as
part of Standard Oil.

The painting is quite similar to the lithographed view, though more Impressionistic in style and without quite as much
detail. The spelling mistakes in the address of the works (“Potrcro” instead of Potrero) and in the address of the offices
(“ZB” instead of 28) further suggest this painting to be after the scarce lithographed view produced by Bosqui. The paint-
ing, however, shows considerable age and is on the original stretcher, and dates from the late 19th century.
PETERS, CALIFORNIA ON STONE, pp.60-61. J. Russell Harper, EARLY PAINTERS AND ENGRAVERS IN CANADA,
p.39. $9500.
Early Outsider Art of an American Indian:
A Naive Catlin Copyist

13. [Calyo, Nicolino]: [PORTRAIT OF MAH-TO-TOH-PA, CHIEF
OF THE MANDAN TRIBE OF THE UPPER MISSOURI]. [New
York. ca. 1840]. Watercolor and ink, 14¾ x 10¼ inches, matted. Minor
foxing. Very good.

This portrait of the famous chief, Mah-to-toh-pa, was executed by New
York artist Nicolino Calyo, based upon the work of George Catlin. Calyo
was born in Italy and came to America in the 1830s. He worked as a
miniaturist, portrait painter, and panorama artist, most actively from the
mid-1830s to the mid-1850s. He is best known for his pen and watercolor
images of New York street vendors, tradesmen, and other types of work-
ers, which he generally sold in portfolios (there is an extensive collection
of these in the New-York Historical Society). This Indian portrait is in
the same style and format as the watercolors of workers. Calyo had an
eye for the topical, often based on other sources, such as his panorama
of the Mexican War which he exhibited widely in the early 1850s.

In the case of this image, Calyo clearly based his portrait on the well-
known George Catlin painting of the famous chief, Mah-to-toh-pa of
the Mandans. Calyo probably saw the original oil portrait which Catlin
exhibited with his Indian Gallery in New York in 1838-39, and this is
the likely source for this watercolor. It is also possible that Calyo used
the published version of this contained in Catlin’s LETTERS AND
NOTES..., published in 1841. In either case, Calyo clearly based his
charming watercolor on Catlin.

A unique Indian portrait by a popular, rather primitive artist, reflecting both public interest in western Indians and the
influence of George Catlin.
GROCE & WALLACE, p.104. $7500.
14. [Canada]: [WATERCOLOR TITLED:] AN AMERICAN
CUTTER. [N.p. ca. 1840?]. Watercolor on stiff paper. 27.2 x 20.8
cm. With a rather unobtrusive 7 cm. tear through the lower left
quadrant. Contemporary manuscript title on verso, “An American
Cutter.” Overall a fine image.

A handsome, unsigned watercolor depicting a single-horse sleigh pulling
a clever-looking American trapper with hunting dog barely keeping up.
A lively image, probably a Canadian scene, very displayable. $750.
15. [Cape Verde]: PORTO PRAYA, CAPE VERDS [sic]...[manuscript caption title]. [Porto Praya. June 2, 1845]. 8
x 9¾ inches. Minute edge wear. Several horizontal fold lines. Small
piece torn away for lower right blank margin. Good.

An amateur pencil sketch view of the Cape Verde coast near Porto
Praya, signed “W.C.,” presumably W. Chandler, a U.S. naval officer
and artist of other similar sketches. The illustration shows a large
village in the foreground, behind which is a range of mountains.
$100.
A Lovely Portrait of George Catlin’s Wife

16. [Catlin, George]: [Linen, George]: [OVAL PORTRAIT
OF MRS. CLARA BARTLETT GREGORY CATLIN]. [New
York. ca. 1840]. Oil on linen, mounted on masonite, framed; 6 x
5 inches, framed to 9½ x 9 inches. Very good.

A lovely portrait of George Catlin’s wife, Clara, painted by Scottish-
born artist George Linen. Born in Greenlaw, Scotland, George
Linen came to America in 1834 and established a painting career
first in New York City. He had studied painting at the Royal
Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and worked as a portrait painter
in England for about ten years before immigrating. He opened a
studio in New York City and became a successful painter of small-
format portraits, exhibiting regularly between 1837 and 1843 at the
Apollo Association and the National Academy of Design. Nine of
his portraits were praised in the NEW-YORK SPECTATOR on
May 18, 1837: “...exceedingly well colored and carefully finished;
and if Mr. Linen is young in the profession, as we suppose he
is, they give promise of very high rank for him hereafter.” Two
years later he received a silver medal from the National Academy
of Design for his portrait of Henry Clay. Although he is known
primarily as a portrait painter, Linen also painted landscapes after
retiring to a farm in New Jersey in 1868.

Clara Bartlett Gregory met and married George Catlin in her hometown of Albany, New York in 1828, while he was there
to paint Governor De Witt Clinton. Despite her frail health, she accompanied her husband on one of his five journeys
west and supported his efforts to capture the likenesses of American Indians. She and their youngest son died while visit-
ing Paris in 1845, a loss that devastated Catlin. $6000.
One of the First Railroads in the United States

17. [Charleston and Hamburg Railroad]: TREADMILL
CAR, CHARLESTON - HAMBURG RR. SPEED 12M
PER HR. FEB 1st, 1829 [manuscript caption title]. [N.p.
n.d., ca. 1870-1890]. Pen and ink drawing, 8¼ x 10¾ inches.
Framed. Lightly foxed and toned. About very good.

Drawing of the Flying Dutchman, the Charleston and Ham-
burg Railroad’s horse-drawn treadmill car. Though signed “C.
Haskins 1829,” it appears that this is either a stylized attribution
or that this piece is a later copy of an earlier image, given that
the present drawing has all the hallmarks of being from the
late-19th century. The Flying Dutchman was an experimental
rail car which was pulled by a horse, designed by the firm of
Eason & Dotterer for a contest held by the railroad. It carried
up to twelve passengers at the rate of twelve miles per hour.
This drawing shows four passengers seated on one side of the
open car, with the horse and several other passengers on the
side which faces the background; a conductor stands at the
front and a man with a whip - presumably to drive the horse
- stands at the rear of the car. The Charleston to Hamburg railroad was completed in 1833 and at the time, was one of
the longest railways in the world at 136 miles long. $400.
Watercolors by Louis Choris, from One of the Most Celebrated Voyages of the 19th Century

18. Choris, Louis: [GROUP OF SIX ORIGINAL WATERCOLORS BY ARTIST LOUIS CHORIS, SOME OF
WHICH WERE LATER PUBLISHED AS PART OF HIS Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde, avec des Por-
traits de Sauvages d’Amerique, BUT SEVERAL UNPUBLISHED]. [Chile & Brazil. 1816]. Six watercolors on paper,
mounted on thicker board, as described below. Each with a manuscript caption in French. In fine condition. Matted.

An outstanding collection of beautiful watercolors done by the celebrated artist, Louis Choris, in Chile and Brazil while on
the Kotzebue expedition. Each watercolor contains anywhere from two to nine separate illustrations of people, clothing,
musical instruments, or trees, totaling twenty-three images on the six sheets. Several of the illustrations were published in
Choris’ VOYAGE PITTORESQUE AUTOUR DU MONDE, AVEC DES PORTRAITS DE SAUVAGES D’AMERIQUE,
but the majority are unpublished works of art. Choris’ illustrations are excellent depictions of Chilean natives.

Louis Choris was born Login Choris (or Khoris), of German heritage, in Yekaterinolsav, Russia on March 22, 1795. He
was educated in the secondary school in Kharkov, Ukraine, where he showed early talent in drawing. Choris pursued a
professional art education in Moscow, and at the age of eighteen was appointed artist to the von Bieberstein expedition
to the Caucasus Mountains (1813-14), with the responsibility of producing botanical illustrations. He was only twenty
years old when he was appointed the official artist aboard the Rurik, commanded by the Russian naval captain, Otto von
Kotzebue, which circumnavigated the globe in 1815-18. Kotzebue’s ship carried a total crew of only twenty-seven, and
its primary purpose was to search for the supposed Northwest Passage and to explore the South Seas. The voyage was a
partly private, partly government-sponsored enterprise, and the Russian government secured the approval of the Span-
ish to let the Rurik stop in Spanish possessions in the Americas, such as Chile and California. Sailing from Kronstadt in
July 1815, the Kotzebue expedition crossed the Atlantic, rounded Cape Horn, and visited Brazil and Chile in early 1816,
spending much time in the Chilean port of Concepcion. From Chile they visited Easter Island and then sailed by way of
the Gilbert and Marshall islands to Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. From Kamchatka they explored the Bering Strait and
the Aleutians, then sailed south to San Francisco. After a month-long visit there they went to the Sandwich Islands and
back to the Bering Strait before heading west across the Pacific, then to the Indian Ocean, around Africa, and back to
Kronstadt in July 1818.

Choris was the official draughtsman of the expedition, and during the long voyage he produced a large number of sketches
and watercolors of peoples, places, and nature. In 1819 he travelled to Paris, learned lithography, and supervised the
production of his great volume of views from the Kotzebue expedition, VOYAGE PITTORESQUE AUTOUR DU
MONDE, AVEC DES PORTRAITS DE SAUVAGES D’AMERIQUE, published by Didot in Paris between 1820 and
1822. The published work is considered one of the most beautiful volumes of American travel views ever created, with
important illustrations in South America, Alaska, and California. Choris followed this with another volume of views from
the Kotzebue expedition, VUES ET PAYSAGES..., published in 1826. The young and talented artist was killed on his
thirty-third birthday by bandits in Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1828.

Choris’ illustrations are excellent depictions of Chilean natives. This collection contains six separate sheets of watercolors,
but the total number of illustrations actually number twenty-three. Five specific works (on four of the sheets) in this group
were included by Choris in his VOYAGE PITTORESQUE, while many of the others were used for their ethnographic in-
formation. The illustrations are not only in Choris’ distinctive style, but they are captioned in the same hand as the Choris
paintings and sketches in the collection of the Beinecke Library at Yale. The illustrations, as captioned by Choris, are:

1) “Indiens du Chili melis.” Watercolor, 4¼ x 7¼ inches. Mornin remarks that “it was in Chile that Rurik’s company had
their first opportunity to observe American Indians at first hand.” This watercolor contains lovely bust portraits of a native
Chilean man and woman. The man wears a characteristic conical hat and colorful shirt, while the woman has a crucifix
around her neck. This illustration was not published in the VOYAGE PITTORESQUE, though Choris incorporated
some of the ethnographic detail in the man’s clothing into his published illustrations. There is a manuscript number “6”
below the portrait of the man.