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Lot Essay
This watercolor of the Battle of New Orleans is very likely one that Hyacinthe Laclotte (1766-1829) painted on the battlefield or soon thereafter. The defeat of the British on January 8, 1815 has been hailed as "one of the most resounding victories in the annals of the United States Army" and although it occurred after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, it was crucial for securing American control of the Mississippi River and surrounding territories (William C. Cook, “The Early Iconography of the Battle of New Orleans, 1815-1819,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 4 (Winter 1989), p. 218). As indicated by Laclotte’s advertisements in newspapers from 1815 to 1817 (see below), he rendered at least two original drawings, one of which was destroyed, and another, probably this lot, which served as the basis for a print engraved in 1817 by Philibert Louis Debucourt (1755-1832) in Paris. In exacting detail, the rendition offered here bears the same figures, structures and landscape features delineated in the print. Furthermore, as the drawing that served as basis for the print was taken to Paris for engraving and Laclotte hailed from Bordeaux, where he died in 1829, the history of this watercolor in Normandy supports the probability that it was one of Laclotte’s original works.
An architectural engineer, Laclotte was born in Bordeaux, attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and by 1804, was in New Orleans. He was a member of the of the Louisiana militia and present at the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815. From late 1815 to early 1816, he advertised viewings of “A correct representation of the attack of the British forces and their defeat near NEW ORLEANS on the 8th January, 1815, drawn and painted on the battle ground by H. LACLOTTE…” with the hopes of generating subscriptions for a print run. He further included a list of senior officers at the battle who verified its authenticity (see, for example, Columbian, New York City, 8 February 1816, p. 1). However, there must have been two original drawings as in December prior to this publication, Laclotte had set sail for France with the drawing he intended to use for the print. On January 14, 1816, he was shipwrecked off the coast of Bordeaux and lost everything, including the drawing. Presumably the one on view in New York in February 1816 and the watercolor offered here was “an original drawing happily left in America” that he later noted provided the basis for Debucourt’s print (“Battle of New Orleans,” National Advocate, New York, 15 October 1817, p. 1). An oil painting by Laclotte now at the New Orleans Museum of Art (acc. no. 65.7) depicts the same scene. Unlike the work offered here, however, it differs significantly from the 1817 print in many details such as the lack of a broken tree trunk near the cluster of British soldiers in the near right foreground, the fencing around the house at left and the configuration of soldiers around flag (with Andrew Jackson in cape) and the canons at lower left and thus, is unlikely to have been the basis for the print. For more on Laclotte, see Cook, op. cit., pp. 221, 224.
An architectural engineer, Laclotte was born in Bordeaux, attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and by 1804, was in New Orleans. He was a member of the of the Louisiana militia and present at the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815. From late 1815 to early 1816, he advertised viewings of “A correct representation of the attack of the British forces and their defeat near NEW ORLEANS on the 8th January, 1815, drawn and painted on the battle ground by H. LACLOTTE…” with the hopes of generating subscriptions for a print run. He further included a list of senior officers at the battle who verified its authenticity (see, for example, Columbian, New York City, 8 February 1816, p. 1). However, there must have been two original drawings as in December prior to this publication, Laclotte had set sail for France with the drawing he intended to use for the print. On January 14, 1816, he was shipwrecked off the coast of Bordeaux and lost everything, including the drawing. Presumably the one on view in New York in February 1816 and the watercolor offered here was “an original drawing happily left in America” that he later noted provided the basis for Debucourt’s print (“Battle of New Orleans,” National Advocate, New York, 15 October 1817, p. 1). An oil painting by Laclotte now at the New Orleans Museum of Art (acc. no. 65.7) depicts the same scene. Unlike the work offered here, however, it differs significantly from the 1817 print in many details such as the lack of a broken tree trunk near the cluster of British soldiers in the near right foreground, the fencing around the house at left and the configuration of soldiers around flag (with Andrew Jackson in cape) and the canons at lower left and thus, is unlikely to have been the basis for the print. For more on Laclotte, see Cook, op. cit., pp. 221, 224.