Allegorical landscape with eagle and eaglets



Allegorical view of the Growth of America featuring a lush landscape with an eagle feeding eaglets.

Unsigned, American, 1830 - 1855.

Oil on panel.

Unframed.

 

Provenance: This overmantle landscape painting features an allegorical view of the expansion of America, a popular theme in the mid 19th century. American independence was won during the Revolutionary War and confirmed by our victory in the War of 1812. The Louisiana Purchase and the western exploration of Lewis and Clark earlier in the 19th century broadened American’s view of our country and potential. The Jacksonian Era fueled American’s westward expansion and in 1845 newspaper editor John O’Sullivan coined the term “Manifest Destiny”.   In 1848, with

the discovery of gold in California, the desire to control the western states increased exponentially. By 1850 disputes over land ownership in California, Texas and Oregon had been settled and America’s power spread from coast to coast.

 

Condition: In good condition and accompanied by a Scientific Analysis that reports “infrared reflectography clearly shows the elements of a trade sign with patriotic embellishment (a flowing stars and striped banner) beneath this painting. Several regions of lettering can be observed on this sign, which was cut down before it was reused as an overmantle painting, can be observed. However, only the name R.E. Gray is fully visible. All of the pigments identified in both the trade sign layer of this painting and the eagle overmantle composition predate the middle of the 19th century. The latest pigment invented to be found is zinc oxide, which was introduced in 1834 for oil paintings (earlier for watercolors).”



Dealer Nathan Liverant and Son
Date: 1830 - 1855
Origin America, possibly New Jersey
Artist/Maker Possibly R.E. Gray
Measurements 22 1/4” x 39 1/8”
Inventory View Dealer's Inventory
Website http://www.liverantantiques.com
Price $35,000
Contact , 860-537-2409 or  mail@liverantantiques.com

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