1761 Sanby / Pownall View of Passaic Falls, New Jersey

Natural Wonder, Engine of Industry.

This is Thomas Pownall and Paul Sandby's illustration of the Great Falls of the Passaic River in New Jersey that appeared in the 1761 Six Remarkable Views in the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania (and later Scenographia Americana), published in London. The falls would soon afterward become the site of America's earliest planned industrial city, Paterson.

A Closer Look

The view captures the Great Falls of the Passaic River in what is now Paterson, New Jersey. Barely visible but included for scale are two human figures standing on an outcrop overlooking the falls. The rugged, wild scene, dominated by the powerful falls and river along with a dense tangle of trees, contrasts with the sun emerging through the clouds at top-right, perhaps intended as religious symbolism or a representation of the opportunities offered by the 'young' American continent.

Aside from their stunning natural beauty, the Paterson Great Falls also played an important role in the early development of industry in the United States in the late 18th century. Having visited the falls in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783), Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, after the war, sought to harness their economic potential. In 1791, he co-founded the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), the basis for Paterson, which became America's first planned industrial city. To harness the river's immense energy, visionary engineers like Pierre Charles L'Enfant and Peter Colt began designing an innovative network of channels and raceways. By the close of the 1700s, this pioneering waterpower system was successfully driving the waterwheels of early textile mills, translating Hamilton's manufacturing doctrine into reality and helping the young country establish a modicum of economic independence in manufactured goods. Much later, the falls also played a central role in William Carlos Williams' epic five-volume poem Paterson.

'Scenographia Americana'

The view is part of a series of 28 images of American subjects known collectively as Scenographia Americana, a joint project involving many of London's top printers, engravers, and publishers. The individual drawings, including cities, seascapes, and natural scenes, were generally drawn on the spot, by military artists and surveyors, most serving in the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763) - like Pownall. The full Scenographia Americana is an object of legendary rarity, with only a single example (Christies, 2022) appearing at auction in the last 30 years.

The publication of the Scenographia marked a sea change in the European sensibilities and perspectives on America. While America's dense forests, rugged mountains, endless plains, and enormous rivers were understood from a strategic and commercial perspective, little weight was given to their stunning visual appeal. Although many celebrate the Hudson River School of the 19th century as bringing America's natural beauty to the forefront of the art world, it was, in fact, recognized much earlier. Well-educated French and British officers, engineers, and nobility sent to fight the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763) were rightly sensitive to the beauty around them and recorded it with passion, but primarily in textual missives. Scenographia consolidated these impressions into compelling and evocative engraved images.

Publication History and Census

The view was issued jointly by London's premier map and print publishers: John Bowles, Carington Bowles, Thomas Jefferys, Robert Sayer, and Henry Parker. It is based upon a field sketch by Thomas Pownall (1722 - 1805), Lieutenant Governor of colonial New Jersey when he drew this view, and later the British colonial governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1757 to 1760. The original sketch was made into a painting by the English artist Paul Sandby (1731 - 1809) and then engraved (etched) for inclusion in the c. 1761 series, Six Remarkable Views in the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Later, in 1768, it was reissued in the 28-view Scenographia Americana.

Rare. Of the full Scenographia, we are aware of only 6 surviving examples, 4 in the U.S., another in England, and a sixth in private hands. The separate plates, some having been issued independently in larger quantities, are somewhat better represented institutionally. The present example has been trimmed to the neatline with an Italian decorative border added all around.

Cartographers

Thomas Pownall (1722 - February 5, 1805) was a British scholar, statesman and soldier active in the colonial administration of North America just prior to the American Revolutionary War. Pownell was born in England and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. After graduation he was employed by his brother, John Pownall, at the office of the Lord's Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, which oversaw British economic interests in its North American colonies. In 1753, Pownall was appointed secretary to the governor of New York, Sir Danvers Osborne. Osborne, himself having be only recently appointed to the position, committed suicide shortly after taking office. Despite this setback, Pownall remained in America and devoted himself to studying and researching the colonies. In the process Pownall became close lifelong friends with Benjamin Franklin and other New World luminaries. He also published several notable works on the colonial administration of North America. In 1757 Pownall was appointed Governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony. In this position he frequently found himself at odds with the restrictive policies of the Board of Trade. It was not long before he was pushed out of office and, declining the governorship of Jamaica, reassigned to South Carolina. Despite nominally holding the governorship of South Carolina, Pownall never visited the colony. Instead he returned to England where he eventually became a member of Parliament. In Parliament, he advocated for reduced taxes towards the colonies - had he been heeded, the American Revolution may have never happened. Pownall retired from public life around 1780, but continued to pursue his scholarly interests. Pownall's research contributed significantly to several important maps and scholarly work on North America.   Further Details...

Paul Sandby (1731 - November 7, 1809) was an English architect, cartographer, engraver, and landscape artist active in the second half of hte 18th and early 19th centuries. Sandby was born in Nottingham. It is not clear where he learned to paint and draw, but in 1741, he relocated to London to join his older brother, Thomas Sandby (1721 - 1798), at the Board of Ordnance at the Tower of London. By 1743, he earned an appointment as a private secretary and draughtsman for William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. He accompanied Cumberland on various military campaigns in the Scottish Highlands. Afterward, between 1747 and 1751, he worked as chief draftsman on the Military Survey of Scotland, conducted after the Jacobite Rising of 1745. He then retired to Windsor Great Park, where he was appointed Deputy Ranger (under Cumberland). Between his salary at the Board of Ordnance and as a deputy ranger, he was able to lead a leisurely, independent life dedicated to his art. He and his brother were among the 28 founding members of the Royal Academy. He died at his house in Paddington on November 7, 1809, and was buried in the burial ground of St George's, Hanover Square. In his obituaries, Sandby was described as the 'father of modern landscape paineting in watercolor.'   Further Details...

Source

Six Remarkable Views in the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, (London: Thomas Jeffrys) 1761.    

Condition

Good. Laid down on Italian stock with decorative borders added via pastedown.

References

OCLC 863159102, 1455564872, 60575511.