1835-40 Garneray Aquatint View of Boston Harbor

Boston Harbor with a tantalizing glimpse of Old Ironsides.

A striking and rare c. 1840 Garneray aquatint view of Boston Harbor teeming with ships. The bright, sunlit scene is rendered with delicate engraving and luminous gouache hand color.

A Closer Look

In the background are landmark buildings, such as the Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church, and Faneuil Hall. The ships and small boats in the foreground serve to frame the view of the town. Garneray, a sailor himself, specialized in nautical images and could be counted on to present ships accurately, raising an interesting question regarding the ship to the right of the view. It is partially obscured by a schooner, but the ship's stern is that of a warship; it flies an American flag, aloft in a stiff breeze. The ship, however, has no masts and no rigging. The height of the stern and coloring of the gun deck are consistent with those of a heavy frigate. Between 1833 and 1835, the most famous American ship of that class - the USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides - was in Boston for refitting. She was in dry dock between 1833 and 1834, so if this indeed is the Constitution, the view must have been drawn in 1835 after her refloating but before her new masts were raised. Such a date is consistent with the dating applied to the related view of New York taken from Weehawken, which would have accompanied this work and was probably based on drawings from the same anonymous artist.

Publication History and Census

The view is undated. The original drawing likely dates to 1835. This view appeared in the fifth volume of Garneray's Vues de Côtes de France, entitled Voyage Maritime. Another state view was published in New York and Paris with the title Vue du Port de Boston / View of the Port of Boston. That iteration attributed the drawing to Garneray and the execution of the aquatint to Sigismond Himely. The present view is attributed exclusively to Garneray; based on the paper and printing, it would have been issued in Paris. There is some debate regarding which edition is earlier, with some suggesting the Himley edition. This, however, is unlikely; rather, the views were initially issued for Garneray's book, then licensed for American sales in the later Himley edition. There is some evidence that a later edition was publsihed in Geneva. We see only one institutional example of this state, dated circa 1840, in the collection of the Boston Athenaeum.

Cartographer

Ambroise Louis Garneray (February 19, 1783 - September 11, 1857) was a French navy man, privateer, painter, and writer. Garneray was born in the Paris Latin Quarter, the elder son of Jean-François Garneray (1755 - 1837), a royal painter and a pupil of Jacques-Louis David. Although initially trained as a painter, by his father, he joined the French Navy at 13. He sailed to the Indian Ocean, where he was involved in numerous battles and skirmishes, mainly with the British. For a time, he served on the privateer Tigre du Bengale. He was subsequently captured by the British and spent 8 years as a prisoner of war in England. Held in prison hulks off Portsmouth harbor, before being released on May 18, 1814. During his time as a prisoner he was allowed to continue as a painter, selling his works and improving his living conditions considerably with the profits. In 1811, he even composed an article on aquatints, preserved today at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. He never returned to the sea as a sailor, settling as a painter in Paris. Through official connections, he became the first Peintre de la Marine, likely a position created specifically for him. From 1831 to 1830, he made sketches of harbors throughout France. In 1833, Garneray became the director of the Museum of Rouen. Around the same time, he developed a fascination with aquatints and became a master of this printing genre, producing numerous works. From 1840 to 1848, Louis Garneray worked for the Royal Manufacture of Sèvres. During this decade, he also lost many of his official supporters as a painter and fell into financial duress. Nonetheless, in 1852, under Napoleon III, he was awarded the Legion of Honor by the Emperor himself. He died a few years later in 1857, curiously only a few months after his wife was mysteriously assassinated.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Small area of abrasion with no loss; else excellent with generous margins. Original gouache hand color, refreshed.

References

OCLC 954152723. Not in Deak, but cf. Deak, Gloria Gilda, Picturing America: 1497-1899, compare nos. 432, 433.