epackage
Bronze Member
but I did get what will become the new centerpiece to my Paterson N.J. collection, this is by far the best piece I've ever owned. This painting, 20" X 18" oil on board(poplar), was done 1825-1840 and depicts the Paterson Falls on the Passaic River, dubbed 'The Great Falls'.A very popular place among painters for a very long time because of it's beauty, the 77' tall falls were used to power mills in Paterson and became the reason Paterson was the hub of the Industrial Revolution in the USA. All thanks to the foresight of Alexander Hamilton, who first saw them in 1778, and who started the Society for Useful Manufactures(S.U.M.) in 1791 based on their ability to power local mills.
The raceways from the falls powered the first water-powered cotton spinning mill in New Jersey, and in 1812, it was the site of the state's first continuous roll paper mill. Other products whose construction used the falls as a power source include the Rogers Locomotive Works (1832), the Colt revolver factory(1837), and the USS Holland Submarine(1898).
I've always wanted a early painting of the falls, lucky for me it was listed at auction as "Oil on poplar panel river landscape", with no mention of it being the Passaic River Falls. I am taking it to the Montclair and Paterson Museums tomorrow for it to be documented, and I am hoping they can identify the artist, I am not comfortable removing it from it's frame to check for a signature or other identifiers. I may loan it to the Paterson Museum for a year and then to the Passaic County Historical Society for the same period of time....
The raceways from the falls powered the first water-powered cotton spinning mill in New Jersey, and in 1812, it was the site of the state's first continuous roll paper mill. Other products whose construction used the falls as a power source include the Rogers Locomotive Works (1832), the Colt revolver factory(1837), and the USS Holland Submarine(1898).
I've always wanted a early painting of the falls, lucky for me it was listed at auction as "Oil on poplar panel river landscape", with no mention of it being the Passaic River Falls. I am taking it to the Montclair and Paterson Museums tomorrow for it to be documented, and I am hoping they can identify the artist, I am not comfortable removing it from it's frame to check for a signature or other identifiers. I may loan it to the Paterson Museum for a year and then to the Passaic County Historical Society for the same period of time....
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