Peale family papers

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Background note

Scope and content note

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

Bibliography

Collection Inventory

Summary Information

Repository

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Creator

Peale family.

Title

Peale family papers

ID

0481

Date

1794-1858, undated

Extent

1.2 Linear feet ; 2 boxes, 7 volumes, 1 flat file

Author

Finding aid prepared by Sara H. Nash.

Sponsor

The processing of this collection was supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Language

English

Abstract

Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was a well-known Philadelphia artist, educator, and polymath in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is best known for his portraits of George Washington and other revolutionary figures, and for establishing the Philadelphia Museum, a natural history and art museum. He outlived three wives and many of his children. Several of his sons followed in their father’s footsteps, becoming artists and scientists and taking various roles in the family’s museum. Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) was a respected portrait artist, best known for his “Porthole Portrait” of George Washington. Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885), the youngest of Peale’s sons, was a scientific illustrator, naturalist, and explorer who participated in many expeditions, including the U. S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842. Established in 1786, the Philadelphia museum displayed portraits and exhibits related to science and natural history, including a mastodon skeleton. The museum flourished for decades, but eventually succumbed to financial difficulties in 1845. The Peale family papers relate mainly to the Philadelphia Museum (Peale's Museum), and include: Charles Willson Peale’s manuscript of "A Walk Through the Philadelphia Museum;" records of subscriptions for tickets in Peale's Museum, 1794-1833; records of accessions and memoranda of the Philadelphia Museum, 1803-1842; minutes of the Philadelphia Museum, 1841-1845; and a rough minute book of the Philadelphia Museum, 1841-1845. Personal documents are present in limited quantities. These include extracts of letters from Charles Willson Peale, 1821-1823; copies of letters from Rembrandt Peale to his wife, 1830; letters to Titian R. Peale from naturalist George Ord, 1827-1854; Titian R. Peale’s catalog of birds and specimens collected in the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1841; and a volume of sketches by Titian R. Peale.

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Background note

Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was a well-known Philadelphia artist, educator, and polymath in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is best known for his portraits of George Washington, for being a founder of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and for establishing the Philadelphia Museum, a natural history and art museum. He outlived three wives, and many of his children. Several of his sons followed in their father’s footsteps, becoming artists and scientists and taking various roles in the family’s museum.  Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) was a respected portrait artist, best known for his “Porthole” portrait of George Washington.  Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885), the youngest of Peale’s sons, was a scientific illustrator, naturalist, and explorer who participated in many expeditions, including the U. S. South Seas Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842, which surveyed lands in and around the Pacific Ocean.

Charles Willson Peale was born in April 1741, near Chestertown on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. His parents were Charles Peale, a schoolteacher, and Margaret Triggs. His father died in 1750, and the family moved to Annapolis, Maryland, where his mother found work as a seamstress. At thirteen, Charles was indentured to a saddlemaker. In his apprenticeship, he learned a variety of tool and craft skills with applications outside of saddlery. Released from his indenture four months early, he married Rachel Brewer in January 1762 and set himself up in business. Rather than limiting himself to making saddles, he added harness making, upholstery, and metal work to his shop's offerings. Peale took up portrait painting and became skilled enough to be offered commissions. He shifted from saddlery to painting portraits and signs, but struggled financially. A family friend, Beale Bordley, raised funds to send Peale to London, where he spent two years studying with the American-born painter, Benjamin West. In 1769, he returned home to Annapolis as a professional painter of portraits. His work required him to travel, often to Philadelphia, where he and his family finally settled in 1776. In August of that year, he enrolled in a local militia, which joined Washington’s Continental Army in December 1776. The company fought in the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton, after which, Peale was promoted to captain. Peale kept his painting kit with him, making miniatures as time allowed. George Washington sat for him in late September 1777. Commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1779 to paint the first official portrait of George Washington, Peale produced “George Washington at Princeton. ¹”

In 1782, he opened a portrait gallery attached to his studio and home at Third and Lombard in Philadelphia. In 1786, Peale added natural curiosities to his displays, and Peale’s Museum was established. The museum outgrew the premises and was moved along with the family to Philosophical Hall in 1794. In 1801, he made a trip to New York to excavate two mastodon skeletons near Newburgh. The reconstructed mastodon became a star exhibit at the museum, which had again outgrown its location. In 1802, Peale moved his museum to the upper floors of the now vacant State House. Another popular attraction was the physiognotrace, a device that could trace a silhouette, which would then be cut by the operator. Peale trained Moses Williams (1775/1777 - circa 1825) in this art. Williams was born enslaved to Peale, raised in his household, and freed at the age of 27. Silhouette cutting was lucrative for Williams, who was allowed to keep the proceeds. He was the primary operator of the machine for over a decade.

In 1810, Charles retired from managing the museum and purchased a farm in Germantown, which he named Belfield. Peale had trained several of his sons as artists, naturalists, and museum operators. Rubens Peale (1784-1865) took over management of museum operations upon his father’s retirement, and it continued to flourish. In 1821, the museum was incorporated as the Philadelphia Museum Company with 500 shares of stock, all held by C. W. Peale, and a board of five trustees. During the same year, a bout with yellow fever weakened Charles and killed his third wife, Hannah, prompting his return to the city.

The board elected Charles as manager of the Philadelphia Museum in 1822. He was assisted by his youngest son, Titian Ramsay Peale. Charles Willson Peale died in February 1827, intestate, leaving the entirety of the museum company stock and fate of his museum in the hands of his large family. In the summer of 1827, the museum moved to the third floor of the recently completed Philadelphia Arcade building. However, the building proved unsuitable due to frequent leaks which damaged the collections. With relocation a necessity, the board authorized a loan, revised the charter, and issued new stock. A building was purpose built at Ninth and George Street (now Sansom), with the museum to occupy the second and third floors. However, the financial affairs of the museum deteriorated in the following years, with debts exceeding $100,000 and no clear title to the land under the building ². In the fall of 1845, the collection was sold to Edmund Peale, a grandson, who moved it to the former Masonic Hall on Chestnut Street. This new museum venture was in dire straits by 1848, and the mastodon skeleton was shipped to Europe for sale, ending up in the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, Germany. Edmund closed his museum in 1849, and sold the remainder of the collection, except for the portraits, to Phineas T. Barnum and Moses Kimball. In 1854, the portraits were auctioned  ³.

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) was born in Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Peale’s first wife, Rachel Brewer. His father taught him to paint, and he became a respected portrait artist, making portraits of both Washington and Jefferson. As a young man he worked as an itinerant artist, when not assisting his father with museum affairs. He also spent several periods in Europe studying art and working. In 1814, Rembrandt opened Peale’s Baltimore Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, where he stayed until 1822. His brother, Rubens Peale, managed the museum after Rembrandt moved to New York. The museum closed and was sold in 1829. Throughout his career, Rembrandt made many portraits of George Washington. In 1823, he produced “George Washington, Patriae Pater,” known also as the “Porthole Portrait,” an idealized image of Washington within a stone arch. Subsequently, he made at least 79 copies and versions of the work. Rembrandt returned to Philadelphia in 1830, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885) was C. W. Peale’s youngest son, born of Peale’s second wife, Elizabeth de Peyster, in 1799. He was named for his elder half-brother who had died of yellow fever the year before at the age of eighteen. Like his brothers, Titian was an artist, but he specialized in scientific illustration. At the age of seventeen, he made his first expedition, traveling with George Ord, Thomas Say, and William Maclure to Florida. Over the next two and a half decades, he worked as a naturalist and artist on many more expeditions, culminating with the U. S. South Seas Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842, which surveyed lands in and around the Pacific Ocean. Between trips, he worked in the family museum and drew illustrations for publication. Following the closure of the family museum, he went to work for the Patent Office in Washington, D. C.

1. The original now hangs at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Peale made many copies, one of which is at the U. S. Embassy in Paris.

2. The April 1845 board meeting minutes record a suit by the Trustees of late the Bank of the United States for $112,000, and the June minutes record a judgment against the Philadelphia Museum Company.

3. The City of Philadelphia purchased a group of them, which are displayed together at Independence National Historical Park.

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Scope and content note

Materials related to the Philadelphia Museum (Peale’s Museum) make up the bulk of this small collection. There is a small amount of correspondence and other personal papers from Charles Willson Peale and two of his sons, Rembrandt Peale and Titian R. Peale. The museum papers include: Charles Willson Peale’s manuscript of "A Walk Through the Philadelphia Museum;" records of subscriptions for tickets in Peale's Museum, 1794-1833; records of accessions and memoranda of the Philadelphia Museum, 1803-1842; minutes of the Philadelphia Museum, 1841-1845; and a rough minute book of the Philadelphia Museum, 1841-1845. Personal documents in the collection include extracts of letters from Charles Willson Peale, 1821-1823; copies of letters from Rembrandt Peale to his wife, 1830; letters to Titian R. Peale from naturalist George Ord, 1827-1854; Titian R. Peale’s catalog of birds and specimens collected in the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1841; and a volume of sketches Titian R. Peale.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2023.

Provenance

Presented in part by members of the Peale family; some items purchased by HSP, including Philadelphia Museum admission token (accession number 2023.062).

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Related Materials

Related materials

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

The Philadelphia Museum Company Minutes 1821-1845 (UPA/Ph AM 101 .P494 1976a)

United Bowmen of Philadelphia records (Am.3148)

Titian Ramsay Peale collection of papers related to the Columbianum and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Am.351)

Peale family portraits (Collection D0077)

Historical Society of Pennsylvania collection of silhouettes (Collection V87)

Sartain family papers (Collection 1650)

Nicholas B. Wainwright papers (Collection 3001)

At other institutions:

Peale family papers, Col. 396, Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library, Winterthur, Delaware.

Peale family papers, circa 1750-1940, Mss.B.P31.52c. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963, Mss.B.P31. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Rembrandt Peale sketchbooks,1850, undated, Mss.B.P313. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Titian Ramsay Peale Sketches, 1817-1875, Mss.B.P31.15d. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Philadelphia Museum Company.
• Philadelphia Museum.

Personal Name(s)

• Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827.
• Peale, Rembrandt, 1778-1860.
• Peale, Titian Ramsay, 1799-1885.

Subject(s)

• Art and Artists--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--19th Century.
• Artists--Correspondence.
• Museums--Philadelphia--19th century.
• Naturalists--United States--Correspondence.
• Ornithology--19th century.
• United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842).

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Bibliography

Florida Museum. “Titian Ramsay Peale.” 2023. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/naturalists/peale/

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. “George Washington at Princeton.” 2023. https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection/item/george-washington-princeton

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. “George Washington, Patriae Pater.” 2023. https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection/item/george-washington-patriae-pater

Sellers, Charles Coleman. Charles Willson Peale. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1969.

Smithsonian American Art Museum. "Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture. Skeleton of the Mastodon." 2023. https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/humboldt/online/charles-willson-peale-mastodon

Sellers, Charles Coleman. Mr. Peale’s Museum: Charles Willson Peale and the First Popular Museum of Natural Science and Art. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1980.

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Collection Inventory