Thomas Cole, River View Drawn, 1850, Paper

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This is an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered "hartford, connecticut." the view looks across a broad, calm river to … Read more This is an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered "hartford, connecticut." the view looks across a broad, calm river to a town on the far bank, its houses gathered below several church spires and a domed building at the left, with a line of hills behind. Small sailing boats are on the water, two cattle stand at the edge of a wooded point at the left, and in the right foreground a sloop under full sail heads away. A large sky of rolling clouds, crossed by long rays of light, fills most of the image. Above the view a small uncaptioned emblem shows a farmer plowing with a team of two horses led by a boy. The border is drawn as twisting tree branches. At the lower left a man hides a document in the hollow of a large tree while a group of men stands near a building, lettered "captain wadsworth concealing the charter. 1687." at the lower right an officer faces mounted men while drummers and militia stand by under a flag, lettered "governor fletcher's authority resisted by the militia. 1693." the credit "drawn by t. Cole." is lettered just below the lower left corner of the view, and there is no line at the right. The imprint reads "j. & f. Tallis, london & new york." the sheet belongs to history of the united states of america, edited by the english baptist minister and author john howard hinton (1791 to 1873) and published by j. And f. Tallis about 1850. The tallis firm were london publishers of illustrated works sold in parts around the middle of the nineteenth century; in this edition every plate sets its steel engraved view within an ornamental border holding lettered vignettes of american history. T. Cole is thomas cole (1801 to 1848), the landscape painter associated with the hudson river school. The left vignette refers to the hiding of connecticut's colonial charter in 1687. The wide sky and river make this one of the more open, airy compositions in the volume. Condition: complete sheet, edges straight and without nicks. Even age toning, soiled along the bottom, left and right edges. Scattered light foxing and several larger brown spots in the margin. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less