Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Town of Purissima, 1878 |
Object Name |
Lithograph |
Description |
Town of Purissima, 1878. Moore & DePue lithograph by Grafton Tyler Brown. Hand-painted framed lithograph depicting the town of Purissima. Image shows an overview of the town, including a large white house with tree-lined driveways and a fountain in the front yard. Behind the house is a field, upon which two men are working, and a body of water. In front of the yard is a dirt road, upon which a four-horse drawn carriage, a man on horseback, and several walking men are traveling. A red barn, white house, and several storefronts line the right side of the road. The bottom left of the image has an inset image of a westward view of a ranch: a property nestled in a hillside with an orchard and several fields, upon which men are working. The bottom right of the main image has an inset image of the school house: a white two-story building with a red roof and a yard, in which many children are playing. Printed on white paper, mounted under glass into a brown wooden frame with an off-white mat with a tan and red 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 |
1998.117.014 |
Dimensions |
H-19.125 W-32.5 D-0.75 inches |
Dimension Details |
Overall. |
Collection |
3D - Art |
Inscription Text |
"VIEW OF RANCH. (LOOKING WEST.) SCHOOL HOUSE / MOORE & DE PUE, PUB. S.F. LITH. G.T. BROWN & CO. S.F. / TOWN OF PURISSIMA , SAN MATEO. CAL. / RESIDENCE, RANCH & PROPERTY OF HENRY DOBBEL ESQ." (bottom of image); "THIS ART IS PROTECTED BY 100% ACID FREE RAG FRONT AND BEHIND FOR LONG PRESERVATION." (sticker on center back of frame); "13-22" (sticker on back of frame) |
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] 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 |
Purissima Lithographs Water Roads Carriages Horse Back Riding Horse Drawn Vehicles Horses Barns Stores Schools Ranch Houses Children |
Subjects |
Lithographs Lithography Carriages & coaches Horses Horseback riding Water Fountains Barns Houses Storefronts Ranches Orchards School children Schools |
People |
Dobbel, Henry |
Credit line |
Courtesy of Assistance League of San Mateo County |