Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Hippo Painting from Noah's Ark Restaurant, 1924 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Description |
Hippo Painting from Noah's Ark Restaurant, 1924. Oil on canvas, mounted inside a brown painted wooden frame oversize painting. Hippo takes up the entire center, he is standing a grassy shore and is drinking from water, which fills the entire lower right and bottom section. There is a large tree to the right, clouds and light blue sky fill the top left. A small white and gray bird is sitting on his back and a brown bird is getting ready to land next to it. |
Date |
1924 |
Creator |
DeTreville, Richard |
Role |
Artist |
Catalog Number |
1971.213.014 |
Dimensions |
H-67.5 W-78.75 D-2.375 inches |
Dimension Details |
67.5 x 78.75 x 2.375 |
Collection |
3D - Art |
Inscription Text |
De Treville (signature bottom left-hand corner) |
Provenance |
Was on display at Noah's Ark restaurant in San Mateo. |
Notes |
"Noah Williams, an African American man from Kansas City, Missouri, opened restaurants in the city of San Mateo that became centerpieces of the Black community. He worked in a cafeteria in San Francisco for a few years before moving to San Mateo in 1920 with his wife, Mabelle. In 1923, he opened his first restaurant, Noah’s Cafeteria, on South B Street, where he drew devoted customers from around the Peninsula with his famous fried chicken and Missouri baked hams." [http://www.historysmc.org/sites/default/files/La%20Peninsula%2C%20Migration%2C%20Spring%202016%2C%20Online.pdf 10/23/2017] "Richard DETREVILLE 1864 - 1929 Richard DeTreville was born in Beaufort, South Carolina on November 17, 1864 into a prominent, old family of French ancestry... In 1892 he moved to California and settled in Stockton where he established a small newspaper called Det's Magazine. Shortly after 1910 he moved from Stockton to San Francisco where he worked as a cartoonist for the Park Presidio News. In his studio on Clement Street he exhibited his paintings as well as in local department stores and art galleries. His works were handled locally by Schussler Brothers and Sanborn & Vail. The last few years of his life were spent across the bay in Alameda where he died on February 25, 1929." [http://www.edanhughes.com/biography.cfm?ArtistID=12 10/23/2017] "Williams opened Noah's Ark in January of 1925. The opening proved to be the civic event of the season, with the mayors of San Mateo, Burlingame, and Hillsborough in attendance. Noah's Ark served more than fifteen hundred people during its first weekend of business alone. Unbelievably, the Ark would surpass even Noah's Cafeteria in popularity, quickly becoming the place to eat and one of the most fashionable gathering places on the Peninsula. Everyone ate at Noah's Ark, including stars staying at the nearby Benjamin Franklin Hotel, such as Ginger Rogers and Laurel & Hardy. Even the governor of California, Friend W. Richardson, was quoted as saying he "longed for some of Noah's specially cooked ham." Noah's Ark became renowned as much for its decor and ambience as for its cuisine. The theme of the biblical Noah's Ark permeated throughout the restaurant." [http://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/good-eating-recalls-local-mainstay-noah-s-ark/article_d73c2509-c194-5d23-9776-883cd9e9c7b6.html 11/27/2017] |
Search Terms |
Noah's Ark Restaurant, San Mateo Painting Paintings Restaurants San Mateo Williams, Noah |
Subjects |
Oil paintings Painting Restaurants |
People |
DeTreville, Richard Williams, Noah |
Credit line |
Courtesy of Les Williams |