Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
R. Cunningham's San Bruno House in San Bruno, 1878 |
Object Name |
Lithograph |
Description |
R. Cunningham's San Bruno House in San Bruno, 1878. Moore & DePue lithograph by Grafton Tyler Brown hand-colored by Herbert Dengler of Portola Valley. Hand-painted framed lithograph depicting R. Cunningham's San Bruno House in San Bruno. Image of a white building with a green roof and "SAN BRUNO HOUSE" sign on the first floor awning. To the right of the house is a white house with a red roof; to the left are two red barns. Many people are walking on the boardwalk between the two white houses. A horse-drawn wagon with one figure sits outside. One man on horseback is riding toward the house and two men stand in front of the house holding rifles. In the foreground are railroad tracks with a locomotive entering from the left side. Grassy hills are in the background. Printed on white paper, mounted under glass into a gold wooden frame with an off-white mat with a red and blue edge. |
Date |
1878 |
Creator |
Brown, Grafton Tyler |
Role |
Artist |
Creator |
G.T. Brown & CO. LITH., S.F. |
Role |
Lithographer |
Creator |
Moore & DePue |
Role |
Publisher |
Catalog Number |
1987.040.007 |
Dimensions |
H-13.5 W-16.5 D-0.75 inches |
Dimension Details |
Overall. |
Collection |
3D - Art |
Inscription Text |
"Moore & DePur,Pub.S.F. G.T.BROWN & CO.LITH.S.F. / San Bruno House. San Bruno,San Mteo Co.Cal. / R.Cunningham,Proptr." (beneath image) |
Notes |
Grafton Tyler Brown (February 22, 1841 – March 2, 1918) was an American painter, lithographer and cartographer. Brown was the first African-American artist to create works depicting the Pacific Northwest and California. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafton_Tyler_Brown 1/5/2022] Herb Dengler was born and raised in Palo Alto, where he attended Palo Alto schools, and graduated from Stanford with a degree in zoology… Mr. Dengler became the spirit of Jasper Ridge. With his encyclopedic knowledge of every rock and tree and insect, and his unfailing enthusiasm, he was a key player in establishing the 1,200-acre Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, which he continued visiting almost until his death last week. [Portola Valley artist and naturalist Herb Dengler dies By Marion Softky. Wednesday, September 25, 2002. https://www.almanacnews.com/morgue/2002/2002_09_25.dengler.html 1/5/2022] Moore & DePue. In 1878, publishers Elliott S. Moore and James De Pue saw opportunity in San Mateo County... Brown divided production of sixty-four views with Britton & Rey, and the larger firm produced... twenty-two views along the Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way, including fourteen in the county seat. While Britton & Rey canvassed the more prestigious areas, Brown sketched forty-one farms, residences, and businesses. Of fourteen views that filled two pages, Brown did eleven. Each lithographer used distinctive corner ornaments. Furthermore, Britton & Rey did the county map, while Brown provided the illustrated title page as his forty-second view. Brown's views illustrate his more sophisticated sense of contour and color of mountains, as well as the interplay of sky, cloud, and shadow, while Britton & Rey emphasized foreground people, horses, and houses and their shadows. Brown's shading of hills and clouds adds more depth than is normally found in scenes where the artist's view was expected only to inventory the property of the paying customer. After seven months of production, Moore and DePue praised the "skill and artistic finish" of the plates included in their Illustrated History of San Mateo County, and through the Redwood City newspaper on November 30, 1878, declared that "we are now delivering [them] to our subscribers." For those with second thoughts, the publishers offered, "a limited number can be purchased of our delivering agents while on their route. Price ten dollars." Today, this county history is in great demand. - Robert J. Chander, San Francisco Lithographer: African American Artist Grafton Tyler Brown (2014), pages 146-148. [https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/69670/california-san-mateo-county-moore-de-pues-illustrated-brown-co-depue-moore 1/5/2022] |
Search Terms |
Cunningham, R. San Bruno San Bruno House Lithographs Locomotives Rifle Trains Hills |
Subjects |
Lithographs Lithography Boardwalks Horses Horseback riding Hills Railroad locomotives Railroad tracks Rifles |
People |
Cunningham, R. |
Credit line |
Courtesy of Robert & Joan Desky |