The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:          Bell, John Wethered.                           

Title:               John Wethered Bell sketches

Dates:             ca.1870-1890

Call No.:         Col. 837

Acc. No.:         08x110

Quantity:        1 box

Location:        34 C 1

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

The identity of John Wethered Bell is a mystery.  Although art sources list James Wethered Bell as a late 19th century American artist, this collection includes two calling cards for John Wethered Bell in Conowingo, [Cecil County,] Maryland. 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

An album containing 39 pencil sketches of people and landscapes, plus a few photographs.  Most of the items are not identified, but one sketch is of Havre de Grace, Maryland, and two sketches show a monument marking the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland.  Many of the sketches are landscapes, but some are of people, including an African American man and children.  Men are depicted working in a mine or quarry, digging ditches, working on a dock, and putting up a split rail fence.  One sketch is of a dog. 

 

 

ORGANIZATION

 

The sketches and photos have been removed from the album, but the order in which they were found has been maintained.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

           

Purchased from Ian Brabner.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Topics:

            African Americans – Pictorial works.

Children – Pictorial works.

Docks.

Dogs – Pictorial works.

Employees.

Gardens – Pictorial works.

Harbors.

            Landscape drawing, American.

            Men – Pictorial works.

            Women – Pictorial works.

            Havre de Grace (Md.) – Pictorial works.

Albums.

            Drawings.

            Tintypes.

            Artists.

           

           

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 34 C 1

 

Note: all accession numbers begin with 08x110.  All items are pencil sketches unless otherwise indicated.

 

 

.1         album in which the sketches had been housed.  The word Album is stamped in gilt on the spine.  Gilt decorations are on the front and back covers.  The album has two metal clasps to keep it closed.  The album was intended to house photographs.

 

.2         a girl or young lady wearing a hat and two profiles of men, one with a moustache, on back of calling card of John Wethered Bell, Conowingo, Maryland

 

.3         woman wearing a hat, on back of calling card of John Wethered Bell, Conowingo, Maryland

 

.4         dog laying on its back on a blanket on a sofa

 

.5         inside a business establishment or library; to the right, two men sit at a table; to the left, one man sits reading a newspaper and two men stand behind him, looking at other what appear to be other newspapers; framed prints hang on the walls

 

.6         dock scene: man working on dock, boat at dock; city in background, with several church spires visible

 

.7         man with a mustache

 

.8         view of a harbor through a Gothic window; sailboats and a steamboat are in the harbor, which is guarded by a round fort; row houses are in foreground

 

.9         man trudging through a snow storm, with trees around him

 

.10       cow wading in a stream, with dead tree in foreground

 

.11       men working in a quarry or mine

 

.12       young woman carrying a small parasol

 

.13       girl or young woman sitting in a chair with a book

 

.14       “Wild Goose”: African American man, in old hat and torn shirt

 

.15       man in a top hat, with eyeglasses, reading a newspaper

 

.16       three sketches of scenes in a garden: a hedge, a corner of the garden, and a vine-covered trellis over a stairway

 

.17       “After a Long Day’s Ride in the Cars”: boy sleeping under a chair

 

.18       “Who Is”: young girl looking out a window

 

.19       head of an Egyptian statue

 

.20       young woman holding a book

 

.21       “Belinda, Maria Edgeworth,” a young woman with long hair, to illustrate the heroine of the novel Belinda by Maria Edgeworth

 

.22a     road in the country, with a bridge

 

.22b     “Ditching”: group of men digging

 

.23       “Havre de Grace”: a view of the town, looking towards the mouth of the Susquehanna River

 

.24       men building a split rail fence at the edge of the woods, where a large tree has been felled; sketched is highlighted with red pencil

 

.25       view over rooftops and chimneys, with a Gothic church tower off to one side

 

.26       tent pitched in the woods

 

.27       cow walking by a stream, with a house on the hill in the background

 

.28       lane leading to a house, surrounded by trees

 

.29       three sketches of a garden: stairs, path through the trees; path next to some trees

 

.30       view over a river, with trees in foreground

 

.31       view of garden sloping down to a canal or stream, with a fence around some trees

 

.32a     road leading to a house, with trees all around

 

.32b     rock wall, bare trees, woods

 

.33       “A Little Beauty”: man or boy wearing a cap and carrying a cane or stick

 

.34       “A Country Position for Conversation, Like Two Roosters Fighting”: two squatting men having a talk, one with a stick

 

.35       young woman wearing a hat with a feather

 

.36       woman wearing a hat with a feather, also wearing drop earrings

 

.37a     Pennsylvania”: monument with a coat of arms for the state of Pennsylvania

 

.37b     Maryland”: monument with a coat of arms for the state of Maryland; the monument evidently marks the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland

 

.38       tintype of a woman wearing a cap and a lacy collar with a brooch

 

.39       very worn tintype of a man with a straw boater, and a woman and child behind him

 

.40       carte-de-visite photo of a town on a river; there are several boats on the river, warehouses on the bank, and a church tower further up the hill; back of card not marked

 

.41       carte-de-visite photo of a woman; marked on back: Fassett, Artist, Chicago

 

.42       carte-de-visite photo of a man, back of card not marked