Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Residence of James W. Bell of San Gregorio, 1878 |
Object Name |
Lithograph |
Description |
Residence of James W. Bell of San Gregorio, 1878. Moore & DePue lithograph by Grafton Tyler Brown. Black and white framed lithograph depicting the Residence of James W. Bell of San Gregorio. Image shows an overview of the property, which includes a white house surrounded by fenced-in fields filled with cattle, pigs, and sheep. In the bottom left field, a man on horseback is rounding up cattle. In the bottom right, a group of men is feeding hay into locomotive-pulled machinery while two women look on and another man adds a bag to a pile of bags. A dirt road runs through the middle of the image, passing by the white house and continuing to other farms in the background. On the road, a man on horseback is riding in the foreground and two figures in a single-horse drawn wagon are approaching the house from the back distance. There are hills in the background. The top left of the image has an inset image of two sets of workers with horses pulling large piles of hay. The top right shows Mining Ranch, a small white house with a white stable behind it and a fence halfway up a hill to its right. Printed on white paper, mounted under glass into a black plastic frame. |
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 |
2011.034.010 |
Dimensions |
H-14.125 W-30 D-0.625 inches |
Dimension Details |
Overall. |
Collection |
Three-Dimensional Collection |
Inscription Text |
"96" (top right of print); "SIDE HILL SLED HARVESTING" (top right inset); "MINING RANCH" (top right inset); "Moore & De Pue,Pub.S.F. G.T.Brown & Co. Lith. S.F. / Residence OF James W. Bell, San Gregorio, San Mateo Co. Cal." (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] 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 |
Lithographs Bell, James W. San Gregorio Residences-San Mateo County Horse Back Riding Horse Drawn Vehicles Cattle Sheep Wagon Hills Farming Dairy Dairy farming |
Subjects |
Lithographs Lithography Houses Cattle Sheep Horses Horseback riding Cattle Hay Farming Hills Ranches Stables |
People |
Bell, James W. |
Credit line |
Courtesy of Brenda Beckett |