拍品專文
The religious society of friends, also known as the Quakers, originated in the 17th Century in England. Because they refused to attend Church of England services, the Quakers were subject to persecution and many fled to the Colonies in pursuit of religious freedom. Perhaps the most important Quaker colony was founded in Pennsylvania in 1682 by William Penn. The Quaker belief in equality and nonviolence led Penn to inaugurate unprecedented relations of peace with the Indians, known as Penn's Treaty.
Raised within the doctrines of this remarkable community, the artist Edward Hicks (1780-1849) established a business as a coach and sign painter which he expanded to include "ornamental painting." Hicks also worked as a Quaker minister, and as both a minister and an artist, Hicks portrayed Penn's Treaty as the earthly realization of the Biblical prophecy of peace, equality and harmonious companionship. Hicks' composition of Penn's Treaty was borrowed from a 1771 painting of the same subject by another American Quaker, Benjamin West. Because Hicks' image is reversed, we believe that he probably never saw the West painting, but borrowed his composition from either a black and white engraving of the painting or from a painting by Edward Savage made after the engraving. Savage's work introduced vivid colors and a somewhat more static composition which Hicks imitated, lending credence to the idea that he may have seen Savage's painting of 1800 in Philadelphia. Hicks, however, simplified the image of Penn's Treaty to its essential symbols and his unerring sense of color endows this painting with a vitality completely lacking in Savage's work.
Penn's familiar portly figure is shown standing at the center of Hicks' painting with outstretched hands, surrounded by fellow Quakers and
members of the Delaware Indian tribes. At his feet, merchants from England proffer bolts of brightly colored cloth to the Indians in return for their land. The large tree under which they gather was a famous elm which stood until the early part of the nineteenth century. At the lower left, an Indian squaw in a beautifully embroidered skirt of imported European fabric sits nursing her baby. The baby is wrapped in strips of cloth tethered against a thin straight board, a custom apparently used to straighten the spine. A burning peace pipe and the absence of weapons indicate that the Indians, although still animated and talking, are about to accept the terms of the agreement. The parchment scroll contained the terms of the treaty and included the signatures of Penn and his five Quaker companions. The only words which we can decipher are "charter" and "Pennsylvania" and Hicks, ever the signmaker, inscribed the bottom of the canvas with an explanation of the event. Apparently, there is no evidence that this meeting actually took place, and if it had, it would have been in 1682 after Penn arrived in the Colonies, not in 1681. It was, however, a popular legend and for several hundred years Penn's Treaty was extolled during periods of unrest to encourage peaceful relations.
Other versions of Hicks' Penn's Treaty with the Indians are in the collections of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, Williamsburg; the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Mercer Museum of Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, Pennsylvania; The Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont; The Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch Collection of the National Gallery of Art.
This painting has been requested for a travelling exhibition, "Picturing History, American Painting 1775-1925," being organized and exhibited at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York, from September 1993 - 1994, for travel to the following institutions: IBM Gallery, New York; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Dallas Art Museum, Dallas, TX; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, FL.
Christie's gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Wendy Jeffers with this footnote.
Raised within the doctrines of this remarkable community, the artist Edward Hicks (1780-1849) established a business as a coach and sign painter which he expanded to include "ornamental painting." Hicks also worked as a Quaker minister, and as both a minister and an artist, Hicks portrayed Penn's Treaty as the earthly realization of the Biblical prophecy of peace, equality and harmonious companionship. Hicks' composition of Penn's Treaty was borrowed from a 1771 painting of the same subject by another American Quaker, Benjamin West. Because Hicks' image is reversed, we believe that he probably never saw the West painting, but borrowed his composition from either a black and white engraving of the painting or from a painting by Edward Savage made after the engraving. Savage's work introduced vivid colors and a somewhat more static composition which Hicks imitated, lending credence to the idea that he may have seen Savage's painting of 1800 in Philadelphia. Hicks, however, simplified the image of Penn's Treaty to its essential symbols and his unerring sense of color endows this painting with a vitality completely lacking in Savage's work.
Penn's familiar portly figure is shown standing at the center of Hicks' painting with outstretched hands, surrounded by fellow Quakers and
members of the Delaware Indian tribes. At his feet, merchants from England proffer bolts of brightly colored cloth to the Indians in return for their land. The large tree under which they gather was a famous elm which stood until the early part of the nineteenth century. At the lower left, an Indian squaw in a beautifully embroidered skirt of imported European fabric sits nursing her baby. The baby is wrapped in strips of cloth tethered against a thin straight board, a custom apparently used to straighten the spine. A burning peace pipe and the absence of weapons indicate that the Indians, although still animated and talking, are about to accept the terms of the agreement. The parchment scroll contained the terms of the treaty and included the signatures of Penn and his five Quaker companions. The only words which we can decipher are "charter" and "Pennsylvania" and Hicks, ever the signmaker, inscribed the bottom of the canvas with an explanation of the event. Apparently, there is no evidence that this meeting actually took place, and if it had, it would have been in 1682 after Penn arrived in the Colonies, not in 1681. It was, however, a popular legend and for several hundred years Penn's Treaty was extolled during periods of unrest to encourage peaceful relations.
Other versions of Hicks' Penn's Treaty with the Indians are in the collections of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, Williamsburg; the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Mercer Museum of Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, Pennsylvania; The Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont; The Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch Collection of the National Gallery of Art.
This painting has been requested for a travelling exhibition, "Picturing History, American Painting 1775-1925," being organized and exhibited at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York, from September 1993 - 1994, for travel to the following institutions: IBM Gallery, New York; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Dallas Art Museum, Dallas, TX; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, FL.
Christie's gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Wendy Jeffers with this footnote.