Lot 273D email save

SMITH, John Rubens. A View of Fairmount and the W

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Philadelphia: J. T. Bowen, 1838. Tinted lithograph, hand-finished (465 x 585 mm). Framed. Provenance: Martin P. Snyder. Wainwright devotes a full chapter to J. T. Bowen, who did not take up lithography until 1835 but by the time of his move to Philadelphia in 1838 is described as a "master lithographer [with] print coloring ... his specialty." With the success of his History of the Indian Tribes of North America, and his "supreme triumph" of lithographing and coloring John James Audubon's Birds of America, Bowen soon had one of the most robust lithographic businesses in the country. In fact, "no other lithographer excited so much admiration" (Wainwright). In the present print "six men and women watch the bridge from the hotel porch. On the ramp of the western approach to this single-span covered bridge are pedestrians, a horseman, and vehicles. In the left background is an excellent view of the waterworks. The bridge depicted is the Upper Ferry Bridge, built in 1812, and detroyed by fire September 1, 1838" (Wainwright). a desirable print from philadelphia's "master lithographer." Wainwright 10 (illustrated as the frontispiece).

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