American School, 19th Century

Inscribed recto, on building, paint: CONCERT HALL/PAINTING; W BROWN./[?] GOODS &C./ D. WESTON./ HARD-WARE-/ F GRIMES & CO./BROKERS./ BANK.; on pallet: AUGUST [?]; lower right: J.P. J [?]

Phillip Budrose, Marblehead, Massachusetts
Scott Bartlett, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1984
Marjorie Schorsch, Greenwich, Connecticut, as agent, 1984

“American Folk Art," Mead Art Building, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, 1974
"Two Centuries of American Folk Painting," Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 1985
"Hearth and Home: Architectural Selections from the Collection," New York, American Folk Art Museum, May 20-September 21, 2003
"Folk Art Revealed," New York, American Folk Art Museum, November 16, 2004-August 23, 2009

Amherst College, American Folk Art, Amherst, Massachusetts: Amherst College, 1974, fig. 26
American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 84, fig. 51

Cleaned. Overall very good condition. 3 1/2 inch vertical scrape in sky; scattered in-paint where flaking occured, scattered throughout.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Fireboards were placed in front of fireplaces during summer months, when they were not in use. As the fireplace was often the central focus in a room, the fireboard that blocked the hearth occupied a prominent position that warranted decorative treatment. The most common painted depictions were vases of flowers, but occasionally, as in over-mantels, a landscape view would adorn the panel. This fireboard remains in its original enframement, which is decorated in a subtle pattern of rayed demilunes.¹

The fireboard itself features a view of Boston Harbor seen from the vicinity of what was then Fort Point Channel, facing the waterfront. India Wharf is in the foreground, and Long Wharf lies beyond. The buildings on the hill above are the Park Street Church and the Boston State House. The island at the right is probably Governor's Island, with its battery on the shore.² The businesses named on the pier have not been positively identified, although the Boston directories for 1825 list a Daniel F. Weston at "Whiting and Weston, oil, glass, and paints.”³ -S.C.H.

¹ Portland, Maine, artist Charles Codman is known to have worked in Boston and to have painted several fireboards with scenic views and decorated enframements. On Oct. 29, 1822, he advertised in the Portland Eastern Argus that he would make "fire boards, from historical, military or marine designs." See Tracie Felker, "Charles Codman: Early Nineteenth-Century Artisan and Artist," The American Art Journal 22, no. 2 (summer 1990): 61-86.
² Nina Fletcher Little, letter to Scott Bartlett, Jan. 6, 1965 (AFAM files).
³ Robyn Christensen, The Bostonian Society, e-mail to the author, May 4, 2000 (AFAM files).