South East View of Greenvill(e,) S. C.

DatePossibly 1825.

Artist Joshua Tucker (1800-1881)

OriginAmerica, South Carolina, Greenville

MediumWatercolor and ink on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary support: 10 7/8" x 16 1/4" and Framed: 13 11/16" x 18 3/8"

Credit LineGift of Arthur Shurcliff

Object number1940.302.1

DescriptionForeground of meadows and trees in greens, blue-greens, and yellow-greens. The two most prominent buildings are red brick, while others are tan-grey clapboard. All chimneys are red brick. A man in a horse-drawn yellow and black two-wheel carriage appears in front of main building, and a woman walks in front of the carriage. Both people are in black. There is a grayish blue cloudy sky and a weeping willow in front of other prominent brick building. A fence borders the meadows and orchard in the foreground.
Period replacement 1 1/2-inch splayed frame, painted black.
Label TextOn a high ridge in the background of this watercolor can be seen a portion of Greenville's main street bordered by several frame structures and two large brick buildings.The brick edifice to the right of center represents the county courthouse, which was erected between 1820 and 1823. Diagonally opposite it stood the large brick Mansion House, which was built about 1824 and was a well-known hotel when Greenville was a popular summer resort.

Joshua Tucker was born in Winchendon, Massachusetts, on August 7, 1800, and trained as a teacher at Hampton Academy in Hampton, New Hampshire. During the winter of 1825 he taught at Savannah Academy in Georgia. After completing a term of formal training at the Medical College in Charleston, Tucker opened his own dentistry practice in Sumpterville, South Carolina, 1827, and conducted an itinerant practice over a large part of the state.
InscribedIn ink in script in the lower margin is "South East View of Greenvill S.C." and in the lower right corner is "by J. Tucker." In pencil in a different, later script on the reverse of the primary support is "Joshua Tucker of Boston, Massachusett(s)/drew this picture, 1825." The word "and" is inserted via carat after "Boston" in the preceeding. Below this appears "Grand Uncle of/Arthur Shurcliff/of Boston." In still another hand, in ink in the lower right of the reverse is "Joshua Tucker--1825."
ProvenanceGift of a great-nephew of the artist: Arthur A Shurcliff, Boston, Mass.