Beschreibung:

Two signed original watercolors of scenes of or near Niagara Falls, both full-page illustrations within an album amicorum belonging to Miss Anicartha Miller of New York City.
New York: Catlin watercolors c. 1827; album c. 1826-1833]. The album containing 54 pp. of manuscript entries in various hands, principally poetry but with several other illustrations (including one by Julius Catlin). 8vo (200 x 170 mm). Numerous blanks in the rear. Contemporary mottled calf gilt. Housed in a morocco-backed clamshell box. Condition : front cover nearly detached, covers worn. Provenance : Anicartha Miller (name stamped in gilt on the upper cover and calligraphic title page). two early watercolors by george catlin The circumstances of Catlin meeting Miss Miller are unknown, but in 1827 the young artist had moved to New York City where he had received a commission to paint a portrait of Governor DeWitt Clinton. Immediately prior to his working in New York City, Catlin and his brother Julius had spent time in Buffalo producing drawings of the Erie Canal and Niagara Falls. It was also during his time in Buffalo that Catlin painted a well-received portrait of Red Jacket, the famous Seneca chief. A few years prior Catlin had seen a delegation of Plains Indians in Philadelphia. The two experiences instilled in him a desire to travel westward to create a pictorial record of the American Indian. But as this album precedes his western tour, it is not surprising that when asked by Miss Miller to contribute to her friendship album that Catlin chose Niagara Falls as his subject. The first image by Catlin in the album depicts the falls from the American side, with two rainbows arching into the billowing mist. The second illustration shows a gathering of evergreens surrounding a tree in full Autumnal color nestled against a shore. Both are signed with brush. Watercolors by Catlin from this early period in his career are uncommon and seldom seen on the market. These two fine examples clearly show his affinity for and skill in rendering the American wilderness. Anicartha Miller, born c. 1810, was the daughter of Sylvanus Miller, a noted New York City judge and close ally of Dewitt Clinton. It seems likely that Catlin met her through his friendship with Clinton, although there is no correspondence between Miller and Catlin or mention of the former recorded in Marjorie Catlin Roehm's The Letters of George Catlin Also included in this album are a brief poem and watercolor by Julius Catlin, George's younger brother (who drowned September 1828, making material in his hand very scarce); an autograph poem by Theodore S. Fay titled "Lines Written on Reaching New York City…"; and an additional untitled poem by Margaret Miller Davidson.