Manuscript Letter to Joseph Watson

DateSeptember 23, 1844

Primary Author Edward Hicks (1780-1849)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Newtown

MediumInk and graphite on machine-made wove paper

DimensionsOverall: 6 3/8 x 7 5/8in. (16.2 x 19.4cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1961.1400.1

DescriptionA manuscript letter in script in dark brown ink on machine made wove paper.
Label TextThe letter is helpful for many reasons, among them: it documents that Joseph Watson commissioned the Peaceable Kingdom mentioned therein; it establishes a firm date of completion; it identifies Edward Trego as the frame maker; it gives the price Edward Hicks charged for the painting and the price of Trego's frame; it states the number of varnish coats given the frame; and it references Hicks's affection for his client and his client's parents. Biographically, its combination of pride and self-effacement reveal much about the artist, as well.
InscribedIn dark brown ink in script, the letter is addressed [i.e., on the back of the primary support]: "Joseph Watson/Middletown B. Co/Penna".

The letter itself reads: "Newtown 2nd morn, 9 mo[n]th 23rd 1844/Dear Joseph/I send thee by my son one of the best paintings/I ever done (& it m[a]y be the last)[.] The price as agreed upon/is twenty dollars with the additional sum of one dollar/75 cents which I give Edward Trego for the fraim[.] I thought/it a greatele [great deal?] cheaper than thee would be likely to get a fraim/with ten coats of varnish any where else --- Thee can pay the/money to Isaac who can give thee a receipt if necessary/but I have no account against thee --- With gratitude &/thankfulness for thy kind patronage of the poor painter &/a greatful [sic] rememberence [sic] of many favours from thy kind/parents --- I bid the [sic] dear child & affectionate farewell/Joseph Watson/Edw. Hicks".

Computations in graphite appear in one corner of the reverse (address side) of the letter and are noted in the object file but have not been transcribed here.
ProvenanceAs far as is known, the letter has always accompanied the Peaceable Kingdom to which it refers: Joseph Watson (1805-1886) of Langhorne, Pa.; to his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Watson; to her sister, Susanna Gillam Watson Hancock (d. 1928), Langhorne, Pa.; to her great-niece, Jane Watson Taylor Brey, Germantown, Pa.; to Mabel Zahn of Charles Sessler, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.