1776 BATTLE OF SULLIVAN'S ISLAND WATERCOLOR, ATTRIBUTED

Attributed to James Peale (1749-1831). "The battle against Fort Sullivan June 28th. 1776." Watercolor on paper, 11 1/2 x 17 3/16 inches. Originally sold at a Christies auction in 2004 as the work of an unidentified artist of the "English School, 18th century" and later believed to be a preliminary study for the 1782 finished view on the same subject by Nicholas Pocock, now in the South Carolina State Museum by Nicholas Pocock. This watercolor has now been reattributed to American artist James Peale and appears to be a compositional study for his completed oil painting on the battle of Fort Sullivan, unsigned and undated, now in the collections of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The scene is nearly-identical in format, in terms of position of the ships against the palmetto-walled fort, which each ship identified below, including the Bristol, Admiral Sir Peter Porter's flagship. It differs primarily in the flag flying over the bastion of the fort, which in this study is the Grand Union, as used by most American forces during 1776, which would have been the obvious conclusion for Peale, who had been an officer in the Continental Army that year. However, the flag that flew over Fort Sullivan in the battle was the South Carolina flag, which consisted of the blue ground with a crescent in the canton area. It is most likely that the error was caught by a former South Carolina officer who viewed either this study or the oil itself, allowing Peale to correct the painting. The coloring and manner of execution of this sketch, including annotations, is similar to other Peale watercolor studies in various collections. CONDITION: two filled and inpainted losses on left bottom margin, each approximately 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches and a mended 1/2 inch tear on right side margin; very light toning to paper, otherwise very good. JLK Provenance: purchased by consignor at Christies London, Maritime Pictures, May 26, 2004 as lot 372 "English School, 18th century, The battle for Fort Sullivan"; from an important Charleston, South Carolina collection.