The Birthplace of Washington
Unsigned, ca. 1843-60.
Oil on canvas.
22” x 30”, 27” x 35” with frame.
Lined, very minor scattered in-painting, otherwise in excellent condition. In a period cove molded gilt frame.

Thomas Chambers is known for his unique, naïve and fanciful landscape and marine scenes painted with bold use of colors, shapes and contours. Chambers derived a lot of his compositions from works by Durand, Doughty and Chapman and was most influenced by Thomas Cole. The View of the Birthplace of Washington, appeared in an engraving by James Kirke Paulding entitled, A Life of Washington and was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1835.

Several artists, such as, John Chapman who also exhibited at the fair in 1835 would have drawn inspiration from Paulding’s engraving, hence influencing Chambers. As stated from another work sold at the Newport Auction of 1845, Washington’s birthplace, with a view of the Potomac River, and the Maryland Shore; the stone in the foreground denotes where the house stood, the old vine, which is still growing, was planted by the Washington family. (Source; Thomas Chambers: American Marine and Landscape Painter, 1808-1869, by Kathleen A. Foster, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2008, pg. 91.)