Description:

Peale Charles

Famed Portrait Painter Peale Sells Improvement in Fireplaces to City of New York

 

Charles Willson Peale, Manuscript Document Signed, Assignment of Rights, December 12, 1798, New York, NY. 2 pp., 8" x 13". Expected folds; splitting on folds; some small edge tears and one one-inch one.

 

In this assignment of rights, artist and inventor Charles Willson Peale sold his patent for improvements in the construction of fireplaces to the mayor and aldermen of New York City for $500, for exclusive use in the city and county of New York for a term of fourteen years. Peale signed the assignment of rights, and John Stagg Jr. (1758-1803) and C. A. Stagg signed as witnesses. From 1786 to 1800, John Stagg Jr. was the chief clerk of the War Department.

 

In 1797 Peale and his son Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825) entered a contest sponsored by the American Philosophical Society for the best fireplace design that was affordable by the poor. The Peales’ design contained improvements developed in Europe, including smaller fireplaces with slanted jambs that reflected heat into the room. Their design also included a sliding metal cover to be lowered from the mantel (to increase the draft or diminish the fire) and a damper (to open against the back of the chimney and prevent smoke from entering the room). The Philosophical Society finally awarded the prize of $60 to the Peales in 1799. When Peale’s in-laws, the DePeysters, a prosperous New York mercantile family, arranged for him to demonstrate his fireplaces to the New York City government, he was able to sell the design, as this document makes clear, and to supervise the construction of many of them.

 

Peale received two patents for other inventions, one in January 1797 for an improvement in bridges, and another in July 1801 for a portable vapor bath.

 

Excerpts:

 

“Know all Men by the Presents, that...the Congress of the United States of America...have granted to Charles Willson Peale of the City of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania an exclusive Priviledge to construct or cause to be constructed his improvements on Fire-places during the term of fourteen years, according to a specification deposited in the Office of the said United States commenceing on the sixteenth day of November one thousand seven hundred and ninety seven.”

 

“Now know ye that I the said Charles Willson Peale for and in Consideration of the Sum of Five hundred Dollars Lawful money of the said United States to me in hand paid by the said Mayor Aldermen and Commonality of the City of New York, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have Granted, Bargained, Sold and assigned to the Mayor Aldermen and Commonality of the City of New York, and to their Successors for the use and Benefit of the City of New York....”

 

Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was born in Maryland and became an apprentice to a saddle maker. After trying several trades, he began to paint and developed a talent for portraiture. After studying in England for three years, he returned and settled in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1770. In 1776, he moved to Philadelphia, where he painted the portraits of American leaders and foreign visitors. He reached the rank of captain in the Pennsylvania militia, and participated in several battles during the Revolutionary War. He served in the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1779 and 1780, then returned to painting full-time. George Washington sat for Peale seven times beginning in 1772, and Peale produced nearly sixty portraits of Washington from those sittings. Peale organized the first U.S. scientific expedition in 1801 and four years later founded Peale’s American Museum, which housed a collection of botanical, biological, and archaeological specimens. Peale also developed expertise in carpentry, dentistry, optometry, shoemaking, and taxidermy. In 1804, he obtained the American patent rights for the polygraph from its inventor. Peale worked with Thomas Jefferson on improvements to the device that made two copies of a handwritten letter simultaneously.

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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