Early Sporting Chromolithograph
Sporting, 1845
chromolithograph, 13 1/2 by 18 1/2 in.
In a Goodspeed's catalogue of 1944, Dr. Charles S. Berry identified this print as printed by Tappan & Bradford in 1845 from a daguerreotype by the noted photographer John Adams Whipple at the request of Daniel Webster for distribution to some of his friends and only twelve copies were made. It stands as one of the best early American sporting prints and the first to represent actual people at a real place. The individuals shown are Captain Berry of the yacht Quarrentine, Alderman Rich and Alderman Cary. The place is Chatham Grove, just north of Boston and the occasion is the Fifth Regatta Race at Shirley Gut in 1844. The lithograph records a shooting party which took place in the morning before the race. Technically it is a multi-stone lithograph, printed in black with multiple stone tints applied in perfect register. The result is amazingly photographic. Shirley Gut can be seen in the background just above the dog; it was completely eliminated by the Hurricane of 1938.
Provenance: Richard Labowskie, M.D. Collection, purchased from Charles Sessler Bookshop, Philadelphia in 1970 or 1971
Literature: Discussed by Harry T. Peters in his "America on Stone," p. 76 pl. 4 when it was still considered under his Anonymous category.
Condition
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