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AAS #:
20 Name: “Publick Edifices” of Boston (Boston Court House)
View: Johnson Hall, Court-Square
Description: Platter, 10” x 8” in dark blue with a repetitive rose and leaf medallion border and a central view of the Boston Court House. There are feathery-leaved trees obscuring the building on the left and framing the building on the right, along with two figures standing in the foreground. There is a cottage in the lower right-hand corner. The trees, cottage and figures were added to the original engraving of the courthouse building by the Ridgway potters.
Potter: John & William Ridgway, 1814-1830 (Cauldon Place) Hanley Date: ca. 1825 Artist: Abel Bowen (1790-1850) Illustrator and Engraver
Marks: (On Reverse) Printed in blue on center of platter above cartouche: BEAUTIES OF AMERICA, (within cartouche): COURT HOUSE/BOSTON, (below cartouche): J & W RIDGWAY. The number 1312 is also written on a paper label.
View Source: The Boston Court-House view is after a drawing and line engraving by Boston artist Abel Bowen entitled Johnson Hall, Court-Square, with additions as noted above. Bowen’s engraving was published in Caleb Snow’s A History of Boston, the Metropolis of Massachusetts, from its Origin to the Present Period; with some Accounts of the Environs. Boston: Published by Abel Bowen, No. 2, Congress-Square, Congress-Street, 1825. Inscribed (below engraving): Entered according to Act of Congress by A. Bowen; (to right): A. Bowen del. et Sc. / Johnson Hall, Court-Square (AAS: LML Bost Snow H824, facing page 37)
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