War of 1812 Engraving Print Niagara Battle Of Chippawa NY Artists Pease & Baker

Description: Scarce engraving (engraved proof) by Pease & Baker of NYC, “The Army Crossing The Niagara, 1814”. This is a scene from the War of 1812: The Battle of Chippawa. I cannot find another example of or reference to this print. So, ‘scarce’ might be an understatement.Mat opening size: 3 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches. Overall framed size: 11 1/4 x 13 1/4 inches. Plate signed lower right in the image.Art historians can’t figure out Baker’s identity, but I solved the mystery by putting the pieces together from Doggett’s 1846 NYC Directory. We already knew that Pease was Benjamin F. Pease. He was an engraver at 42 Nassau St. (along with his firm, Pease & Baker). So, all I did was scroll up to the Bakers, and found the engraver Samuel F. Baker was also at that same address.They’re ‘listed artists’, it’s just that nobody until now has tied the two together. In fact, the only artwork they did (as a firm) that I was able to find online was in: MEMOIRS, OFFICIAL AND PERSONAL; WITH SKETCHES OF TRAVEL AMONG THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN INDIANS, by Thomas L. M’Kenney. New York, Paine & Burgess, 1846. 2 vols, in one (note: wood engravings: 2, engraved by Pease & Baker, and Roberts, facing pp. 31, 52).According to the Who Was Who in American Art, Pease relocated to Peru in the 1850’s and was still living there in 1869. The last activity I see per Baker in NYC in the ‘Who Was Who’ was in 1856. It’s speculated, for good reason, that he had a pen name, “XOX”, and was one of the first original comic artists in the USA.In searching the net, I found in “Supreme Court - Page 361 - Google Books Result” that in 1876, Baker was found to be a lunatic and committed for many years to insane asylums. But, it’s per the result “Supreme Court - Page 14 - Google Books Result” that I’m able to confirm some other interesting facts.He was 78 in 1901 (he died in 1912). Until he was 21, he apprenticed to an engraver named Butler in NYC. So, around 1844, his apprenticeship ended. He joined the Seventh Day Adventists, was married, but he took off to CA in 1857.As for Benjamin Franklin Pease (1822-1888), see “Benjamin Franklin Pease: An American photographer in Lima, Peru” by Keith McElroy. He’d arrived in Peru in 1852. As it turns out, there’s enough of a meaty story behind these two men, Pease & Baker, to write a book about.The case for Baker being XOX, the author of “Outline History of an Expedition to California: Containing the Fate of the Get All You Can Mining Association. Designed and Engraved by XOX” [wrapper title] (New York: H. Long & Bro., 1849. 32 pp.) involves depictions of the devil. Baker apparently went on about this kind of thing per his ‘lunacy’. Also, the first illustration in the book is signed “S.F. Baker”.One copy of the book, sold by Bonhams and stated to be by Baker, fetched $6875 at auction. A more direct comp to the item offered here is "Battle of New Orleans and Death of General Packenham" by S.F. Baker (1848) on the Tennessee Virtual Archive site. It’s a War of 1812 scene, which proves that Baker did such work.“On July 3rd 1814 at approximately 2 a.m., the Americans invaded Upper Canada by crossing the Niagara River from Black Rock and landing north of Fort Erie. The invasion was spotted and the Americans landed in Niagara under a hail of gun fire”.Pease and Baker created this engraving after a drawing by another artist whose name appears, faintly, lower left. I’m not sure what the name is, but the “DEL” at the end for Delineavit means “he drew it”.Fair condition for a 175 year old print. I see waviness, and wrinkling or creasing. Not examined out of framing, which is newer and not perfect. Matted and under glass. CHECK MY FEEDBACK AND BUY WITH CONFIDENCE! *** 20+ years of happy customers on eBay *** Please see my other eBay listings for more great items.Message me to arrange for combined shipping on multiple purchases.

Price: 375 USD

Location: Pitman, New Jersey

End Time: 2025-01-31T20:29:48.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD