Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
"Mountain Home Ranch" Property of E.W. Burr of Searsville, 1878 |
Object Name |
Lithograph |
Description |
"Mountain Home Ranch" Property of E.W. Burr of Searsville, 1878. Moore & DePue lithograph by Grafton Tyler Brown. Black and white framed lithograph depicting the "Mountain Home Ranch" Property of E.W. Burr of Searsville. Image shows a landscape view of the property, which has a water fountain at the center of a circular patch of grass. A dirt path surrounds the grass, with five separate paths branching from there. The far left path leads to a fence that surrounds the entire property. The next path clockwise leads to fields behind the houses where livestock grazes. The next path leads to a house with an orchard and another house to its right. The fourth path leads to stables and horses, and the last path leads to the far right and has a two-horse drawn wagon carrying four passangers traveling on it. In the background is what looks to be a man-made body of water, upon which a row boat is traveling, and many fenced-in fields and orchards. In the foreground are tree trunks, a fence, and cattle grazing. 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 |
2011.034.009 |
Dimensions |
H-14.125 W-30.125 D-0.625 inches |
Dimension Details |
Overall. |
Collection |
Three-Dimensional Collection |
Inscription Text |
"95" (top right of print); "Moore & De Pue, Pub. S.F. G.T. Brown & Co. Lith.S.F. / 'Mountain Home Ranch' Property OF E.W. Burr, Searsville, 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 |
Mountain Home Ranch Burr, E.W. Searsville Water Horses Wagons Water Boats Cattle |
Subjects |
Lithographs Lithography Ranch Houses Water Fountains Livestock Grazing Orchards Stables Horses Rowboats Cattle |
People |
Burr, Ephraim Willard |
Credit line |
Courtesy of Brenda Beckett |