Charleston Square

Date1872

Artist Charles J. Hamilton (1832-after 1880)

OriginAmerica, South Carolina, Charleston

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 36 5/8 x 38 5/8in. (93 x 98.1cm) and Framed: 41 3/8 x 43 3/8in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1957.101.5

DescriptionScene of city market place, Market Building at intersection of Meeting and Market streets in Charleston, and details of the scene are fairly accurate. The people on the street are dressed in the costumes typical of the period, there is even a man in Federal uniform, and the people are in genre like poses, a boy selling papers, a man whipping his mule, two gentlemen crossing the street, women with vegetables on their heads, a grocer's wagon drawn by four horses, dogs and oxen. There are a few crows and birds in the sky and resting on the roof of the Market Building. One can see a ship at dock in the harbor in the right background. The building on the right with the sign, "D.A. AMMER/Grocer" is painted red and one can see the woman selling the groceries inside the shop. The window above the sign has a window box with flowers. The buildings on the far left have signs, "Baird & Co." and "Hardware". A building in the distance to the right has an American flag flying above it and the word, "ICE". The Market Building bears the date 1841. The whole scene is basically browns, beiges, and mortar yellows in color, and the picture has a grainy substance to it. The picture is lightened by touches of reds and pinks in the buildings and costumes, and a man in the left foreground carries a startlingly blue umbrella. The sky is soft blue. The overall feeling of the painting is one of heavy city architecture enlivened by touches of the strolling people and food vendors.
Mid-nineteenth-century rebuilt 3-inch molded and gilded frame
Label TextThe central building in Hamilton's view of Charleston Square is the Market, a prominent landmark built in 1841 at the intersection of Meeting and Market streets. This building still stands and now houses a Confederate museum on its main floor, while the space in the arcaded area below continues to be used as a marketplace.
Hamilton recorded in considerable detail a variety of activities associated with mercantile enterprises in Charleston during the 1870s, as well as documenting the continuation of African traditions in both costumes and postures in the city. Black women carrying vegetables in baskets on their heads, a small boy selling papers, food vendors helping their customers, and other descriptive elements abound and give the viewer some idea of the lively street life in Charleston's downtown area.
Given its 1872 execution date, the composition is peculiar in terms of figure arrangement and intergration. Most of the people are detached and strung out with little regard for compositional balance. Individually, these figures seem like caricatures and are similar to the sketches for carvings that Hamilton had executed some fifteen years before in Philadelphia. This is especially noticeable in the faces of the black figures at lower left. Establishing a central focal point in "Charleston Square" is difficult because of Hamilton's haphazard placement of the figures and the fact that those at lower left and the horse at lower right are partially outside teh picture plane. While the isolated mule cart in the center foreground is a strong diagonal element, it does not lead the viewer's eye completely to the Market building, which is the most prominent element in the picture. Instead, the vignette actually competes with the Market for the viewer's attention.
Despite Hamilton's difficulty in structuring his design, he was able to render three-dimensional forms with some accuracy. His colors are fairly realistic and carefully applied. Architectural elements in complementary shades of browns, ochers, and grays predominate, but these are relieved by an array of pinks, reds, blues, and greens used for smaller architectural elements and the figures.
The majority of Hamilton's known work consists of carved wooden tobacconist figures and the studies for them done in watercolor and ink and pencil. One other oil painting, a signed still life, has been located. Hamilton was born in Philadelphia and had set up his own carving shop by 1855. He listed himself as a painter in Charleston in 1872-1873.
InscribedAccording to conservator Russell J. Quandt in 1957, an inscription at lower right almost completely hidden by the artist's repaint appears to read: "C. J. Hamilton 1872." The inscription "Market Street/Charleston/S C/ 1872/C. J. Hamilton/Artist" on the reverse of the support is now covered by a lining.
ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. John Law Robertson, Scranton, Pa.; M. Knoedler & Co., New York, N.Y.

Painting purchased from collection of Mrs. John Law Robertson in 1957. In Sept. 1969, Mrs. Robertson's daughter, Mrs. Frederick Scott of Sarasota, Fla., wrote that her Mother had bought the painting in Charleston, S.C. Mrs. Robertson has since passed away. In October, 1957 Miss Helen McCormack, director of the Gibbes Art Gallery, Charleston, S.C., wrote that Mrs. Robertson had visited the Gibbes and said that she had owned "Charleston Square" and that it had been painted by an artist named "Martin".