Skip to main content
1984-138, Print
A View of the Falls on the Passick, or second River, in the Provence of New Jersey
1984-138, Print

A View of the Falls on the Passick, or second River, in the Provence of New Jersey

Date1761
After work by Governor Pownal
Painter and engraver Paul Sandby (1725-1809)
After work by Governor Thomas Pownall (bapt. 1722-1805)
MediumLine engraving and etching on laid paper
DimensionsOverall: 14 5/8 × 21 3/16in. (37.1 × 53.8cm) Other (Plate): 36.7 × 53.3cm (14 7/16 × 21in.)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1984-138
DescriptionLower margin reads: "A View of the Falls on the Passiack, or second River, in the Province of New Jersey,/ The height of the Fall between Eighty and Ninety feet the River about Eighty Yards broad./ Vue de l'Cataracte du Passaick ou seconde Riviere dans la Province du Nouveau Jersey,/ La Hauteur de cette Chute est de 80 a 90 pieds, et la Largeur de la Riviere d'environ 40 Toises./ Sketch'd on the SPOT by his Excellency Governor Pownal Painted and Engraved by Paul Sandby/ London Publish'd according to Act of Parliament 20 May 1761 Tho.s Jeffereys the Corner of S.t Martins Lane."
Label TextThis print was initially drawn by former Massachusetts Bay governor Thomas Pownall, showing a scene of Passaic Falls in New Jersey. It was also included in a series of twenty-eight prints of American scenes published under the title Scenographica Americana in 1768. The images range widely in content and geographical location, depicting the military structures at Port Royal in Guadeloupe as well as the wilderness of Passiac Falls in New Jersey. Many of the prints commemorated sites where the English were victorious during the Seven Years War, and were the first, large, accurate, and elaborately engraved series of views of America.