Bruce Gimelson
PAINTINGS * AUTOGRAPHS * HISTORICAL OBJECTS
P.O. Box 440, Garrison, New York 10524-0440
(845) 424-4689—Phone ~•~ (845) 424-8397—Fax ~•~ [email protected]
www.brucegimelson.com

Buying, Selling, and Trading Since 1964

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CHIEF JOSEPH BRANT (THAYENDANEGA)

Charles Willson Peale(after the 1797 Portrait in the Independence Hall Collection) Oil on canvas; 25 ½ x 21¼ inches, being the same dimensions as the 1797 Charles Willson Peale painting.

AN EXTREMELY RARE AND IMPORTANT PORTRAIT OF CHIEF JOSEPH BRANT, ALSO KNOWN AS THAYENDANEGA, PERHAPS THE ONLY SUCH PORTRAIT IN PRIVATE HANDS. Undoubtedly accomplished by a member of the Peale family, it has an early 19th-century stretcher with a slightly later frame.

Brant was one of the most significant Native Americans of the 18th century. A Mohawk, he was born in 1743 while his parents were on a hunt in Ohio and given the name Thayendanega, which means, “Two Wagers [sticks] Bound Together for Strength.” Brant was closely associated with and fought on the side of the British both before and after the American Revolution. He went to England in 1775 with Guy Johnson to strengthen relations and to persuade the British to address Mohawk land issues in exchange for their participation as allies during the rebellion; while there George Romney painted his portrait.

In 1785 Brant went to England again and met with King George III in an attempt to gain British help against incursions by the Americans, who had defeated the British during the Revolution. His portrait was painted again, this time by Gilbert Stuart. Brant was invited to Philadelphia in 1792, where he met President George Washington and his cabinet, succeeded in obtaining a large pension, and was offered a reservation in upstate New York, which he refused. After taking up arms against the United States once again, he was defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which precipitated the Treaty of Greenville. As a result of that treaty, the coalition of American Indian tribes known as the Western Coalition, in exchange for about $20,000 in goods, ceded what is now the state of Ohio and downtown Chicago, as well as several outlying districts. In 1797 Brant again visited Philadelphia to meet with American and British officials saying that he “would never again take up the tomahawk against the United States.” Charles Willson Peale painted his iconic portrait from which the present image was taken. Brant’s legacy included his tireless efforts to negotiate between the Americans and the British for the sake of the Six Nations and their ability to control their own lands. He often pitted the Americans against the British to further these aims. Amazingly, in his lifetime, he met both George Washington and George III, William Johnson, Guy Johnson, Cornplanter, Captain Walter Butler, Generals James Abercrombie, Nicholas Herkimer, John Burgoyne, and Frederick Haldimand, the military commander and Governor of Quebec. Ezra Ames painted the last portrait of Joseph Brant in 1806, the year before he died.

Exhibition: This great portrait was on loan to the residence of the American Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, in 2005, where it was featured in the official dining room during his tenure.

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MARTHA WALTER (1875-1976) Oil on canvas; 27 x 23 inches Martha Walter was one of the preeminent female Impressionist artists, with a career that spanned two centuries. A student of Chase at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) on a scholarship in 1908, she also studied at the Académie Julian, and the Académie Grande Chaumière in Paris. Miss Walter held numerous exhibitions at the Paris Salon (1904), the Corcoran, National Academy of Design (1910-1924), NAWA, and numerous others. She is represented in most American and French museums. Framed.

SPECTACULAR 19TH CENTURY MAGICIAN BROADSIDE DE LA MANO IS COMING! PRESTIDIGITATEUR. Printed broadside on yellow paper by “The Courier Company Show Printing House, Buffalo, N.Y.” Eight separate woodcuts show different illusions of the magician, De La Mano. Advertising “Two hours of fun,” it lists many of his tricks, including “Mahomet’s Cane”, “The Apparition Rings”, “The Witches Knot”, “Those Singular Cards”, “That Diabolical Punch Bowl”, and many others. Of particular interest are the Hebrew words “MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,” which referred to the Old Testament Book of Daniel, Chapter 5, from the handwriting on the wall by disembodied fingers that was witnessed by horrified guests at a banquet held by King Belshazzar; De La Mano (which means “of the hand” in Italian) used these words to precede a notice of his “Blood Writing on the Arm.” De La Mano was an Austrian-born magician who came to America in the 1870’s. Very large, 14.5 x 42.5 SPEND THE HOLIDAYS WITH GEORGE WASHINGTON GEORGE WASHINGTON. Autograph document signed (all in Washington’s hand—about 60 words), one page oblong octavo, Mount Vernon, March 23, 1788. Unusual financial document in which Washington, having been away from Mount Vernon for much of the last few decades, was forced to buy grain from one of his neighbors. Reads, “Received from John L. Mercer Esq In September last, Eighty four Bush’l and three pecks of Wheat at four Shilling and ten pence p’r Bushel - and in Feb 7 last, one hundred and thirty Barrl’s of corn at fifteen shillings and ten pence p’r Barrel which said sums are to be passed to his credit- Go WASHINGTON Mount Vernon} March 23’d 1788}” John F. Mercer (1759-1821) -He was a good friend of Washington and important to Virginia and Maryland history -Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, 1783-1784. Moved then to Maryland -Maryland delegate to Constitutional Convention in 1787 but was not a signer -U. S. House of Representatives from Maryland, 1792-1794 -Governor of Maryland 1801-1803 -Corresponded extensively with Washington Underneath the matte is a presentation inscription from John F. Mercer’s grandson, Richard Mercer (1823-1873) to “Mr. Latrobe”(John Hazlehurst Latrobe (1803-1891, important Baltimore writer, lawyer, and inventor) – “Presented to Mr. Latrobe with the complements of Mr. R. Mercer.”

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