John Hall
William Penn's Treaty with the Indians

Public Domain

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Artist John Hall (English, 1739–1797)English, 1739–1797

ArtistAfter Benjamin West (American, active England, 1738–1820)American, active England, 1738–1820

Publisher John Boydell (English, 1719–1804)English, 1719–1804

CultureAmerican

Titles

William Penn's Treaty with the Indians

Date1775

Printed inLondon, England

MediumEngraving and etching with watercolor on laid paper

DimensionsImage: 16 3/4 × 23 1/8 in. (42.5 × 58.7 cm)
Plate or block: 19 × 24 1/4 in. (48.3 × 61.6 cm)
Sheet: 19 1/4 × 24 1/4 in. (48.9 × 61.6 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Roy and Meredith Cullen in honor of Harry H. Cullen at "One Great Night in November, 1995"

Object numberB.95.12

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Folk Art Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionThomas Penn, son of Pennsylvania founder William Penn, commissioned Benjamin West to create the painting on which this print is based. The image depicts a legendary meeting in 1682 between Penn’s delegation, colonial merchants, and Native American people as Penn worked to create a peaceful arrangement for European colonizers to settle in Pennsylvania. Most historians now agree that the meeting portrayed by West never took place. As Thomas Penn’s own reputation for fair dealings with Native Americans and others dimmed, West’s painting and this popular print helped to strengthen the belief that Pennsylvania’s origins, at least, were built on fair and ethical foundations.
Provenance[Mongerson Wunderlich Galleries, Chicago]; purchased by MFAH, 1995.
Exhibition History“American Adversaries: West and Copley in a Transatlantic World,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 6, 2013–January 20, 2014.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Printed a lower right below image in script: John Hall Sculpsit.
Printed at lower left below image in script: Benj.: West Pinxit.
Printed center below image: John Boydell excudit 1775.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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