Hill, John — William Guy Wall (after) | The Wall view of Manhattan from Brooklyn

Hill, John — William Guy Wall (after)
New York From The Heights Near Brooklyn. New York: G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1828

Aquatint and engraving (sheet size: 521 x 730 mm). Handcoloring by John Hill, on paper watermarked "J. Whatman 1828."

The Wall view of Manhattan from Brooklyn.

The view was made from a point in Brooklyn near the Anchor Gin Distillery of Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont (later Pierpont). The pond in the foreground was Cornell's mill pond.

This view, together with the companion New York from Weehawk (see following lot), forms "one of the most beautiful pairs of views of New York in the early nineteenth century" (Stokes, American Historical Prints).

A contemporary newspaper article noted that the "views taken by Mr. Wall are the most accurate descriptions that we have seen. One of them is taken from Brooklyn Heights, near the Distillery of the Messrs. Pierponts, and the other from the Mountain at Weehawk. Mr. Wall at first made a drawing from the high land back of Hoboken…"

The original watercolor is preserved in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

REFERENCE
Stauffer 615; Stokes, American Historical Prints c.1820-23-E-92; Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island III:557-579 (plate 92); Koke, Checklist of John Hill 96; Déak, Picturing America 335

Condition Report:
Condition as described in catalogue entry.