Hotel Schoharie

Date1852-1865 (probably)

OriginAmerica, New York, Schoharie County

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 24 5/16 x 36 1/8in. (61.8 x 91.8cm) and Framed: 30 x 42 1/2in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.101.7

DescriptionThe foreground of the painting is filled with a broad expanse of dirt road, with a few plants, rocks and a log partly visible in the immediate foreground. At far R, a mand stands in a green, red-wheeled wagon pulled by two grey horses, advancing out of the picture plane. A stone wall borders the far side of the road, with stone mounting steps builtt adjacent to it on the road side and in front of a 3 1/2-story white-painted frame building with a two-story porch running the length of the front. The building has green shutters and the second-story balcony is painted green, as is an overhead awning or blind on the second-story porch. An arrow weathervane mounted above a square platform stands on a pole in front of the building. A man sits on the front porch, another man stands on the mounting steps, and a woman's figure can be seen on the second-story porch. To the viewer's left of the main building, a doubld-arched doorway in a separate shed or barn show two horses tied within; the red-roofed shed is a dove cote, with entrances in the roof. Two smaller buildings are paritially visible behind the dove cote/shed. Another shed is partially visible to the viewer's right of the main building, and farther right is a barn with ramp entrance and spire-topped cupola. At extreme right, part of a red-painted frame building is just visible.

Artist unidentified.

The mahogany-veneered, cyma reversa, 3 3/8-inch frame with gold-painted liner is a period replacement.
Label TextThe inn pictured still stands about three miles west of Gallupville in Schoharie County, New York. It was called the "Yankee Pete Tavern" as early as 1792, when it was owned and operated by Peter Mann Snyder (1777-1852). Owner and inn received their nicknames from the fact that local German-speaking merchants depended on Snyder for translating their dialogues with passing Yankee (English-speaking) traders.
In his latter years, Snyder lived with his son Philip, and the inn was left to Philip when Peter died in 1852. It is not known at what point the building was named the Hotel Schoharie, but Philip continued to operate it as an inn for several years after he inherited it.
At upper right in the painting, Philip Snyder's name probably appears as proprietor, not painter. Clearly the work was intended as a record of Snyder's property, particularly the inn's appearance. The apparently unrelated horse-drawn wagon at lower right conveys a sense of thruway activity; its brightly colored wheels and body also add pleasing color notes that relieve the composition's basic earth tones, as does the red dovecote over the horse shed at left. August-growing mullein and teasel help fill in the broad expanse of dirt road and contribute foreground interest.
InscribedIn black paint in script at upper right is "Philip: Snyder/Hotel. Schoharie." The square platform under the arrow weather vane in front of the inn bears the lettering "SNYDER" on its front face and the partially legible date "18 [illegible material] on its left face.
ProvenanceJ. Stuart Halladay and Herrell George Thomas, Sheffield, Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson, who was AARFAC's vendor.