1859 Antique Engraving Kanawha Native American Indian West Virginia River Valley

Description: Antique 1859 steel engraving : " A Memory of the Upper Kanawha - Western Virginia " A view in what is now the state of West Virgina ; a solitary Native American Indian reclines on a rocky ledge and looks out on the Kawawha River. He is surrounded by nature alone, with no sign, as yet, of the coming European settlers who would chamge his life and the life of his people, forever. ------ After the original 1858 oil painting by A. D. Shattuck. ( Aaron Draper Shattuck - see historical information below ) Engraved by J. D. Smillie. James David Smillie (1833 -1909) was an American artist, cofounder of the American Watercolor Society and New York Etching Club. 6" x 8 5/8" overall. The copyright date appears below the lower edge of the image; " 1859 ". Over 160 years old. Good Condition. Trimmed margins, slight foxing only. Otherwise very good. Carefully packed for shipment to the buyer. ------------ Historical information : The artist, Aaron Draper Shattuck (1832 -1928), was an American painter of the White Mountain School. He was born in Francestown, New Hampshire. During during the civil war , Shattuck and his brothers aided the effort of the North with their considerable creativity and imagination, by creating propaganda. A second-generation artist affiliated with the Hudson River School , Shattuck studied portrait painting with Alexander Ransom in Boston in 1851, and in 1852 was a student at the National Academy of Design in New York City. In 1854 he first painted in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The following year he exhibited for the first time at both the National Academy and the Boston Athenaeum. In 1856 he was elected an associate of the National Academy, and was made a full Academician in 1861. From 1856 to 1870 Shattuck worked at the Tenth Street Studio Building in New York City. In 1860 he married Marian Colman, sister of Samuel Colman. In 1879 he moved to West Granby, Connecticut, where his paintings focused on his farm and its animals. In 1883 he invented a canvas stretcher bar key (" Shattuck iron stretcher keys ") which was used by artists of the era, and which contributed to Shattuck's considerable wealth. In 1888 Shattuck suffered the effects of a serious illness, after which he ceased to paint. After recovering he followed other agrarian and creative pursuits, raising sheep, experimenting with apple tree grafts, and making violins. Prior to his death in 1928 at the age of 96, he was the oldest living member of the National Academy of Design. ------ Engraver James David Smillie (1833 -1909) was an American artist, cofounder of the American Watercolor Society and New York Etching Club. --------- In 1859, when this engraving was made, West Virginia was still part of the larger state of Virginia. Western Virginia became sharply divided over the issue of secession from the Union , leading to the separation from Virginia, and formalized by West Virginia's admittance to the Union as a new state in 1863 , during the American Civil War. -------- The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its watershed has been a significant industrial region of the state since early in the 19th century. The river flows generally northwest, in a winding course on the Allegheny Plateau, through Fayette , Kanawha , Putnam , and Mason counties, past the cities of Charleston and St. Albans , and numerous smaller communities. It joins the Ohio River at Point Pleasant. Evidence, such as Clovis points , suggests that Paleo-Indians, the earliest indigenous peoples, lived in the Kanawha valley and the surrounding heights as early as 10,000 BC. A succession of prehistoric cultures developed, with the Adena culture beginning the construction of numerous skilled earthwork mounds and enclosures more than 2000 years ago. Some of the villages of the Fort Ancient culture survived into the times of European contact. The area was a place of competition among historical American Indian nations and was in later times controlled by the Iroquois who drove out or conquered Fort Ancient culture peoples, as well as such tribes as the Huron and Conoy ( Kanawha ). By right of conquest, the Iroquois, Lenape ( Delaware ), and Shawnee reserved the area as a hunting ground. They resisted European-American settlement during the colonial years, but eventually the settlers took over. The Kanawha River is named for the American Indian tribe that lived in the area prior to European settlement in the 18th century. The spelling of the Indian tribe varied at the time, from Conoys to Conois to Kanawha. The latter spelling was used and has gained acceptance over time.

Price: 45 USD

Location: Coventry, Rhode Island

End Time: 2024-11-01T12:20:41.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD