"Eben P. Davis' Horse"

Date1845-1860

Artist Eben Pearson Davis (1818-1902)

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Byfield (probably)

MediumWatercolor, gouache, pencil on wove paper

Dimensions11 7/8" x 18" (30.2 cm. x 45.7 cm.) unframed; 12 1/2" x 18 13/16" (31.7 cm. x 47.8 cm.) framed.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1931.301.4

DescriptionYoung man and his horse at a pump and drinking trough evidently in a village square. The man wears a sport cap in dark blue with a yellow band, a dark blue jacket with yellow buttons, light blue pants, and black shoes; he has brown hair; his face and hands are drawn in pencil. The horse is drawn entirely in pencil but with a pink/orange decorative harness and a yellow saddle or saddle blanket with red and blue stripes. There is a public building or institution to the left foreground and a row of homes or shops to the right foreground with windows and doorways painted in black and white with small green shrubs in front behind a fence painted gray. The large tree in the immediate foreground has a bird (chicken?) perched on a limb. The trunks of the trees are colored with a brown wash, all foliage in the picture including some grass is colored a blue-green. The road in the background has a house in the middle ground, a house in the background and a church and another building on the hill to left; fences line the roads. The buildings appear to be for the most part in the Greek Revival style. The whole composition is drawn in pencil.
Label TextAlthough a carpenter by trade, Eben Davis had a reputation as being a fine penman, a skill which was probably acquired while he was in school or learning to be a carpenter. This controlled freehand drawing suggests that Davis had some training in correct draftsmanship and was aware of the rules of proper perspective, although his lines do not converge correctly. He filled the page with pencil lines and then painted over them with bright colors.
MarkingsInscribed at bottom of painting written in pencil and ink: "By E.P.Davis". No watermark.
ProvenanceFound in Boston Massachusetts; Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, N.Y.; Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; Given to C. W. by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.