Calligraphic Picture

Date1852

Artist Gabor Naphegyi (1823/1824-1884)

MediumWatercolor, ink, and pin-pricking on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary support: 13 1/2 x 17 1/2in. (34.3 x 44.5cm) and Framed: 15 5/16 x 19 1/4 x 1in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1988.312.1

DescriptionA horizontally formatted picture with a decorative border of naturalistic and geometric patterns and rosette-like designs in the corners. A central reserve contains three shields below an arched opening. The shields are surrounded by leafed branches, and the word "America" is printed at the center. Surrounding this image are rectangles drawn in an overlapping fashion to suggest individual sheets of paper on which are inscribed various texts in multiple languages.

The 3/4-inch black-painted frame with a silver lacquer sight edge was fabricated and added in 2009.
Label TextGabor Naphegyi created this drawing using a variety of patriotic American motifs and inscriptions written in English, French, German, Arabic, Latin, Hebrew, and other languages that have not yet been identified. (According to linguists, the words in some inscriptions do not create coherent sentences, Naphegyi presumably having selected and arranged them for visual effect alone.) The artist's ability to integrate these various scripts into pleasing patterns, the quality of the penmanship, and the complexity of the design, make this one of the most ambitious examples of nineteenth-century ornamental penmanship to survive. According to one of its English inscriptions, the work was presented to Dr. Frederick Benjamin Page and his wife in Galveston, Texas, but thus far, little information has been found about the honored couple, and nothing is known of their relationship with Naphegyi.

In 1850, Naphegyi is said to have crafted a calligraphic memorial to U. S. President Zachary Taylor incorporating eighteen languages, the words being used to form the image of the honoree, all of it on a piece of paper measuring five by seven feet. The fate of this wonder is unknown. He also authored a number of books, among them, THE ALBUM OF LANGUAGE, subtitled "the Lord's prayer in one hundred languages, with historical descriptions of the principal languages, interlinear translation and pronunciation of each prayer, a dissertation on the languages of the world and tables exhibiting all known languages, dead and living."

Aside from Naphegyi's artistic and linguistic talents, however, he was a controversial figure. Less than four months after the museum's drawing was made, a Galveston newspaper warned the public of his "rascality." Initially, the advice may have issued from New York, where Naphegyi built a reputation for himself based on the public's adulation of Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894), once Hungary's Governor-President. Kossuth was so celebrated as a freedom fighter and defender of democratic ideals that some Americans likened him to George Washington. Hence, many were impressed by Naphegyi's claim to have served as Kossuth's private secretary --- until Kossuth publicly denied even knowing Naphegyi.

The disavowal cost Naphegyi a professorship at the University of Toronto, but it hardly deterred him from further scheming. In subsequent years, he made repeated court appearanes on allegations of fraud, swindling, and forgery. (In at least two cases, the charges were dropped, however.) Newspaper articles also describe complex money-making plots hatched with various, equally controversial figures, including Mexican strongman Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1794-1876).

Naphegyi repeatedly claimed to be of Hungarian birth, but at least one newspaper story denied it, stating he had been born in Bohemia --- and under the name "Sonnenberg."
InscribedHandwritten in black ink in script near the right edge of the lower margin is: "Gabor Naphegyi M. D. A. M. fecit".

Handwritten in ink in script near the left side of the lower left margin is: "Galveston February 25th 1852".

Inscriptions in several languages appear on the work. N. B. Few non-English inscriptions have been transcribed as of this cataloguing.

Handwritten at top center in black ink in script is: "Presented and dedicated/to/Fred. Benj. Page M.D./and/Lady/by/a man whos [sic] name is/friend."

To the left of center in variously styled lettering incorporating some coloring is: "The/Star/Spangled/[image of eagle and flags]/Long May/ it wave/over the/Land/of the/Free". In the center beneath the U. S. shield, in black ink in upright, unconnected letters, is: "America".

In French in the upper left corner, partially hidden by an overlapping square, is: "TOUJOUR [?]/LIBER[TÉ]" ("Freedom always"). The first word should end in an "S," i.e., "TOUJOURS," but the partial letter shown on the drawing is not close enough to the foregoing letters and what can be seen does not look like part of an "S."
MarkingsA blind stamp in the lower left corner consists of a crown encircled by two stars and the words "BRISTOL BOARD".
ProvenanceThe drawing remained in the possession of one of the recipients, Annie Fraziette Davis Page [1821-?], until at least November 1899, when Mrs. Page loaned it to the Worcester (Mass.) Society of Antiquities ("Exhibited"). No other owners are known prior to Sotheby's sale of the piece in 1988.