Maine Antique Digest, April 2017

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10-B Maine Antique Digest, April 2017
- FEATURE -
10-B
Rosetta Stone Sketchbook
by Tompkins H. Matteson Rediscovered
by Christine Oaklander
From my point of view, 2016 was the year for the
prominent American genre and historical painter
Tompkins H. Matteson (1813-1884).1 In the
March issue of Maine Antique Digest I spotted a small
advertisement by Axtell Antiques (p. 12-CS) offering a
self-portrait of the artist as a youngman.With a handsome,
Byronic look conveyed by wavy chestnut hair, a creamy
complexion, and a piercing eye, the portrait is inscribed
on the back of the board “painted by Mattison 1838.”2
It is fairly well rendered, demonstrating the artist’s
experience in the late 1830s drawing after the antique at
the National Academy of Design during a sojourn in New
York City. It dates to his early career spent as a portrait
painter, before he achieved a reputation for his historical
and literary genre subjects. Before the invention of the
daguerreotype, artists traveled from town to town, set up
shop for a few weeks, and captured likenesses to order.
For most artists this nomadic lifestyle was the only way
to earn one’s bread and butter. Seeing the advertisement
about a month after it was published, I was delighted to
learn that the portrait was still available from Richard
Axtell. I made a 150-mile trip north to inspect and
purchase it.
The next month Doyle New York offered an important
1845 patriotic theme painting by Matteson not publicly
seen indecades, TheSpirit of ’76. ScholarDonaldD.Keyes
described this painting as one of the two that launched
Matteson’s career.3 Estimated at $10,000/15,000, the
painting sold for a stunning $149,000 and affirmed the
enduring appeal of Revolutionary War imagery. M.A.D.
covered the sale in its June issue.4
My connection with Matteson started in the 1980s,
when I worked in the department of painting and sculpture
at the New-York Historical Society, repository for one of
Matteson’s most striking compositions, Last of His Race,
an 1847 oil on canvas. It is a rendition of NativeAmerican
costume, life, and history with an obvious allusion to
Manifest Destiny. This was one of my favorite paintings
during the almost three years I worked at the society. In
2001, as director of collections and exhibitions at the
Allentown Art Museum, the second painting I acquired
for the permanent collection was Matteson’s Return of
Rip Van Winkle (circa 1845), an illustration for one of
Washington Irving’s best-loved stories.5 Learning that the
public library in Matteson’s central New York hometown
of Sherburne owned several of his paintings, I inquired
if the paintings were accessible. I wanted to make a road
trip to see them, but life and a demanding job intervened
and I did not.
Fast forward to 2014. I purchased a collection of
art and archival materials from the estate of the long-
forgotten American artist Henry Grant Plumb (1847-
1930) and learned with incredulity that he and Matteson
were both from Sherburne, New York. Now I was
compelled to make that 180-mile drive to the Sherburne
Public Library to view Matteson’s genre paintings and
Plumb’s portraits and landscapes, where they keep
company in the library’s spacious main reading room.
Thus I commenced a series of trips to the magical yet tiny
town of Sherburne, where I read issues of the Sherburne
News, founded in 1864 and still published by the same
family for over a century. It’s a rich source of information
about the town and surrounding Chenango County. I also
met descendants of current or former owners of artwork
by Plumb and Matteson and interviewed experts about
the town’s history.
A key piece of the Plumb puzzle has been to determine
what influence Matteson had on the younger artist.
We know that he was closely linked with Plumb’s
father, Isaac, since both were leaders in local and
regional politics, founders and foremen of the first fire
departments in Sherburne, and trustees of the school
board.6 Lastly, Matteson gave art lessons at his Sherburne
studio. Surprisingly, none of Plumb’s biographical entries
mention Matteson, although Matteson’s portraits of
Plumb and his siblings (private collections) and Plumb’s
posthumous portrait of Matteson (location unknown)
imply a close relationship.7
I was aware that several museums in upstate and
central New York had significant Matteson holdings,
notably the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, the
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, and
the Albany Institute of History and Art. Nancy Simerl,
director of the Sherburne Public Library, helped connect
me with individuals owning art or archival material
related to Matteson and Plumb, informing me that some
of Matteson’s descendants, still living locally, owned
two of his sketchbooks and two oils. 8 Hearing this was
like proverbial catnip to a feline, and I prevailed on her
to make the introduction, which transpired last summer.
As it turned out, there was one sketchbook; two paintings
hung in the family’s Victorian home. The descendants
hoped I could inspect the paintings and provide an
idea of their importance and potential value. After I
completed that task, they brought out the sketchbook,
housed in a protective archival box. Measuring 9" x 6",
the hardbound book preserves 57 pages bearing pencil
drawings.9
When riffling quickly through the sketches, I quickly
recognized with elation two drawings for a unique
and much-published painting of sculptor Erastus Dow
Palmer of Albany, New York, in his studio. A quick
assessment suggested that the sketchbook contained a
range of drawings; some appeared to be fairly detailed
preliminary versions of paintings while others were
more modest, presenting a head, a piece of furniture, or a
background landscape.
Since the owners were understandably reluctant to
turn the book over to a stranger, I took a few clumsy
photographs with my iPad mini. They were interested in
selling the book but had no idea how to approach the task
or evenwhat the book’s valuemight be.Withmore than 30
years of experience in historical American art, including
work for art dealer Ira Spanierman of New York City, I
knew that establishing value for the book would lie in
linking the drawings to Matteson’s paintings
and prints. Sketchbooks are oddball objects
and don’t have a regular market in the way
that paintings do. In this case, the book’s
provenance—with a direct line of descent
from the artist—would also confer value. The
news bite of Doyle’s record-setting Matteson
sale didn’t hurt either. With my appetite for
research and an excellent visual memory, I
was eager to undertake this project. Given
the go-ahead by the owners, I plunged in.
Soon realizing that my amateur digital
images crippled the ability to make accurate
visual comparisons, I convinced the owners
to let me take the book by promising that I
would keep it safe and inform them of my
progress. Since July 2016, I have researched
the sketchbook and made some fascinating
discoveries along the way.
Not relying just on Internet research, I
visited the Fenimore Art Museum repository
of about two dozen large Matteson drawings,
as well as conducting research at the art
division of the New York Public Library and
at Princeton University Library’s rare books
and special collections.
Princeton proved an excellent source
for information on Matteson’s published
illustrations and led me to an important
discovery. I have identified roughly two
dozen of the sketchbook drawings as
either complete preliminary renditions of
Matteson’s known paintings and prints
or portions thereof. Some of the related
paintings are known today only through
verbal descriptions, exhibition records,
biographical sketches, individual prints
after the paintings, or prints published in
magazines and books. Matteson was a
prolific popular illustrator who capitalized
on several of his paintings and drawings
that were reproduced as stand-alone prints
that were widely marketed.10
The sketchbook has proven itself a
veritable Rosetta stone for a portion of
Matteson’s career, beginning in the late
1840s and ending in the mid-1870s. This
is noteworthy because most sketchbooks
cover just a fewmonths or perhaps a year or
two. It references his decorative religious work, including
two drawings for ornamental church hangings or theater
curtains no longer extant. It shows his dedication to fire
prevention, presenting two fire rescue scenes. In one of
Tompkins Matteson, Self-portrait, 1838, oil on paper laid
on panel.
Tompkins Matteson, The Spirit of ’76 , 1845, oil on canvas. Photo
courtesy Doyle New York.
Tompkins Matteson sketchbook, front cover, 1849-70. Private collection.