Paul Sandby
A View of Bethlem, the Great Moravian Settlement in the Province of Pennsylvania

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Images(3)

Engraver Paul Sandby (British, 1731–1809)British, 1731–1809

Artistafter Thomas Pownall (English, 1722–1805)English, 1722–1805

Publisher John Bowles (English, 1701–1779)English, 1701–1779

Publisher Robert Sayer (English, 1725–1794)English, 1725–1794

Publisher Thomas Jefferys (English, active c. 1719–1771)English, active c. 1719–1771

Publisher Carington Bowles (English, 1723–1793)English, 1723–1793

Publisher Henry Parker (English, 1725–1809)English, 1725–1809

CultureBritish

Titles

A View of Bethlem, the Great Moravian Settlement in the Province of Pennsylvania
from the portfolio Scenographia Americana

Date1768

Published inLondon, England

MediumEngraving and etching with watercolor hand coloring on laid paper

DimensionsImage: 12 3/4 × 20 1/8 in. (32.4 × 51.1 cm)
Plate: 14 3/8 × 20 7/8 in. (36.5 × 53 cm)
Sheet (irregular): 17 3/4 × 23 3/8 in. (45.1 × 59.4 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Mary Beth Baird bequest, by exchange

Object numberB.2017.10

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionWith origins in fifteenth-century Bohemia and Moravia (now parts of the Czech Republic), the Moravians were a pre-Reformation sect following the teachings of priest and reformer Jan Hus. In 1741, attracted by Pennsylvania’s climate of religious tolerance, a group of Moravians settled near the Lehigh River, intending to minister to Indigenous people. The settlement quickly established many workshops, as well as a municipal waterworks. Dominating this view are the large dormitories in which community members were grouped according to age, gender, and marital status.
Provenance[Philadelphia Print Shop, Philadelphia]; purchased by MFAH, 2017.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Recto, printed below image, far right: C.5.
Recto, printed below image, left: A View of Bethlem, the Great Moravian Settlement in the Province of / PENNSYLVANIA
Recto, printed below image, right: Vue de Bethlem, principal Etablissment des Freres Moraves dans la Province de / PENNSYLVANIA
Recto, printed below image, center: Sketch’d on the SPOT by his Excellency Governor Pownall, Painted and Engraved by Paul Sandby / London, Printed for John Bowles at No. 13 in Cornhill, Robert Sayer at No. 53 in Fleet Street, Thos. Jefferys the corner of St. Martins Lane in the Strand, Carrington Bowles at No. 69 in St. Pauls Church Yard, and Henry Parker at No. 82 in Cornhill.
Verso, inscribed in graphite, upper left edge: Pennsylvania (cursive)

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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