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Robeson Family, left to right: 1) Mary Bonsall; 2) Mrs. Elizabeth Robeson; 3) Catherine Moore Robeson; 4) Mr. Jonathan Robeson; 5) unidentified; 6) Sarah Robeson Lea; 7) Joseph Lea, Sr.

Lea Family, left to right: 1) Mrs. Frances Clark Lea; 2) Miss Mary Clark Lea; 3) Miss Sallie Ann Lea; 4) Mr. Thomas Tatnall Lea; 5) Mary Lavarell (governess)

Information about these silhouettes continues throughout this listing....so keep scrolling down and reading.  It's all pretty fascinating!

I am so pleased to offer these two rare and important Edouart conversation silhouettes in  original bird’s eye maple veneer frames. The Lea and Robeson families were important Pennsylvania Quaker families who helped found Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and, indeed, the United States. John Lea immigrated with his wife Hannah Hopton Lea from England to Chester, Pennsylvania in 1699. Andrew Robeson, Jr. of Scotland immigrated in 1676 to Gloucester Co., New Jersey with his uncle Andrew Robeson, Sr. From there, Andrew Jr. moved to Philadelphia. He was Chief Justice of Pennsylvania between 1693 and 1694. The two Andrew Robesons were wealthy men who took an active role in the affairs of the “New World” and were entrusted with many matters of importance. The Lea and Robeson families appear to have first become united by marriage when Joseph Lea (born December 5, 1785) married Sarah Ann Robeson (born May 18, 1789) on May 13, 1808 at the Friends Meeting, Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Edouart cut at least 44 silhouettes of the related families of Robeson, Lea, and Tatnall as well as some of their governesses. The surviving duplicates of these monumental silhouettes are found in the rescued Quaker folio, owned by the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College and published in August Edouart: A Quaker Album, by Helen & Nel Laughon, 1987. I have not identified every family name that these related family silhouettes may have been recorded under, so there are likely more members of these families cut by Edouart and represented in this folio. As I identify these figures in the listing below, the pages of the Quaker folio on which the duplicates are found are shown in parentheses. The larger of these desirable family silhouettes depict, from left to right 1) Mary Bonsall (p. 163); 2) Mrs. Elizabeth Robeson (p. 163); 3) Catherine Moore (sister to Jonathan Robeson (p. 164)); 4) Mr. Jonathan Robeson (p. 164); 5) not identified; 6) Sarah Robeson (p. 163); and 7) Joseph Lea, Sr. (“Milverton”) (p. 165.). Catherine Robeson Moore (3), Jonathan Robeson (4) and Sarah Ann Robeson (5) represent the fifth generation descendents of Andrew Robeson, Jr.   Joseph Lea, Sr. (7) was married to Sarah Ann Robeson (6) and together they had twelve children (one of which was Thomas Tatnall Lea, whose family is depicted in the other conversation piece). I have yet to find Mary Bosnall (1) in the genealogy record. Although Edouart’s duplicate folio does not note a connection, I suspect that she may have been a household worker. Catherine, Jonathan and Sarah’s stepmother was named Elizabeth, and I assume that Mrs. Elizabeth Robeson (2) (who Edouart notes in his folio as “age 76”) is the stepmother. Mrs. Elizabeth Shoemaker Robeson was a minister in the Germantown Meeting (the “Society of Friends” or, as commonly known, Quakers).

So, the larger silhouette represents three of six children of fourth generation Peter Robeson and the second of his wives. Part of the family legacy of the Robeson family is “Shoomac Park” in Roxborough Township, Philadelphia County, PA. The original land for “Shoomack Park” had been purchased by Andrew Sr. from the original land grantee of William Penn. The original land included 500 acres on the Schuylkill and Wissahickon Rivers. Robeson and a partner operated a flour-mill on the property. When “Shoomack Park” was eventually inherited by Andrew Jr., he increased the size of the property by the purchase of another 1500 acres. The property was eventually sold outside of the family until fourth generation Peter Robeson (patriarch of the sitters in this silhouette) repurchased it.  Peter called the property “Shoomac Park”, dropping the "k" from the original name. The mansion Shoomac Park was inhabited concurrently by Peter and his brother Jonathan, who both raised their families there. After Jonathan’s death, Peter purchased his brother’s interest and the property passed to Peter’s son Jonathan (4) who lived there until his death in 1859. (Noted in the family biography is that Jonathan suffered severe curvature of the spine and always in poor health. He never had a business career but was a green-house gardener, amateur carpenter, make “fancy boxes” and silk winders.) Peter built another magnificent home across the road for his son Andrew. Andrew's house was called “Milverton”. Peter’s son Andrew eventually moved to Massachusetts and “Milverton” descended to Sarah Ann Robeson who, with her husband, Joseph Lea, raised their children at “Milverton”. One of the Lea children depicted in the second silhouette, Mary Clark Lea, and her husband, George Minister, lived in “Milverton” until it was sold outside the family and became a hotel known as “Riverside Mansion”.

Joseph Lea, Sr. (7) was the son of Thomas Lea and Sarah Tatnall. Thomas Lea and his business partner Joseph Tatnall were also flour millers in what is now known as Brandywine Village. Thomas Lea married Joseph Tatnall’s daughter Sarah. Although Tatnall was a Quaker, he supported the American Revolution. When the British invaded Delaware and Pennsylvania at the Chesapeake Bay, General George Washington stationed his troops at Wilmington. General Anthony Wayne made his headquarters at Tatnall’s home. Tatnall supposedly told Washington, “I cannot fight for thee, but I can and will feed thee.” He provided flour for the war effort throughout the Continental Army’s stay in the area. The homes of both Thomas Lea and Joseph Tatnall are both currently part of Historic Brandywine Village.

Robeson Family, left to right: 1) Mary Bonsall; 2) Mrs. Elizabeth Robeson; 3) Catherine Moore Robeson; 4) Mr. Jonathan Robeson; 5) unidentified; 6) Sarah Robeson Lea; 7) Joseph Lea, Sr.

The offered silhouettes remain in the original bird’s eye maple veneer frames with gilt liners. The finish on the frames has been restored--in truth, there was very little finish left and it was so full of smoke-grime that you could barely even see that the frames are maple veneer. Original glass remains in both frames. The Robeson family silhouette is on a hand-painted watercolor background of a residence library (likely at Shoomac Park). 1) Mary Bosnall stands, holding a purse in her clasped hands. The purse string handle is cut as part of the silhouette. 2) Elizabeth Robeson sits in a curved-back rocking chair with large scrolled arms and holds her finely-detailed eye spectacles which are cut as part of her silhouette. 3) Catherine Moore sits in a stick back chair with a flat top rail and holds a letter which has been cut from a separate piece of paper and inserted into her hand. 4) Jonathan Robeson sits in a wood chair which is similar to, but not exactly the same as the one sat upon by his sister Catherine. 5) The unidentified woman sits in a curved back rocker with scrolled arms. Her fingers are flying as she knits. 6) Sarah Robeson sits in a wood chair with a curved back. Her hands are clasped in her lap. 7) Joseph Lea sits in a Windsor chair with turned legs and side rails. He holds a newspaper which is cut from a separate piece of paper and inserted into his hands. There is overall darkening to the background paper, some staining to the outside edges and scattered scuffing to the paper. This can all be clearly seen in the images (particularly the last images on this listing which provide close up detail of the apologies). What you may not be able to see from these medium-resolution images is that Edouart lightly embellished the figures with the white chalk lines that he used starting in 1842. Cutting on all of these figures is exceptional. The backing paper for this silhouette is laid onto canvas which is on a wood stretcher. Edouart usually had his largest conversation pieces framed this way to stabilize the very large sheet of paper used for the background. The wood stretcher and probably the hide glue which holds the paper to the canvas is what has caused the darker staining on the outside edges. I have left the paper, the canvas and the stretcher as they were. However, I have slipped 100% acid free acetate between the canvas and the wood stretcher to create a lifetime barrier against more acid staining of the paper. The Robeson frame measures 17” x 28 ½”. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has, in its digital library, a daguerreotype of Sarah Ann Robeson Lea and one of Joseph Lea. The dags can be viewed at http://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/5079 and http://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/5427.

Mary Bonsall, note Edouart's signature runs up the wall directly behind her.

Mrs. Elizabeth Robeson, likely Peter Robeson's 2nd wife.

Catherine Robeson Moore.

Mr. Jonathan Robeson.

Unidentified Family Member (But her fingers are flying with her knitting!).

Sarah Ann Robeson Lea (the white specks are specks of dust under the glass).

Joseph Lea, Sr.

Lea Family, left to right: 1) Mrs. Frances Clark Lea; 2) Miss Mary Clark Lea; 3) Miss Sallie Ann Lea; 4) Mr. Thomas Tatnall Lea; 5) Mary Lavarell (governess)

The smaller of the conversation silhouettes is of the Lea Family and depicts 1) Mrs. Frances Clark Lea (noted at p. 168 but duplicate figure lost at sea); 2) Miss Mary C. Lea (p. 168); 3) Miss Sally A. Lea (p. 168); 4) Mr. Thomas Tatnall Lea (p. 168); and Mary Lavarell (“nurse to Mrs. T. Lea’s family”) (noted at p. 168 ½ but figure lost at sea). As noted above, Thomas Tatnall Lea was a son of Sarah Robeson and Joseph Lea, Sr., depicted in the first silhouette. Thomas was one of the founders of the Penn. R.R. Co. and a member of its first board of directors. He was also director of the Bank of North America.

These two important silhouette conversation pieces passed down through the family until 2011. Joseph and Sarah Lea commissioned at least two other conversation silhouettes from Edouart in 1843: one of Joseph & Sarah with the unmarried children and the other of the married children of Joseph and Sarah with their children. Both are on watercolor backgrounds and both were gifted to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2002 by Mrs. Samuel B. Shipley, a descendent of the family. Those two silhouettes may be seen on the Museum’s website at http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/159735.html?mulR=4955|1 and http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/148122.html?mulR=7213|2.

The Lea family silhouette is on a lithograph background of an interior room with two windows and two hanging paintings. Outdoor landscaping can be seen in the distance out of one of the windows. 1) Frances sits in a Sheraton wood chair and holds a book that is cut as part of the figure. 2) Mary is reading to her mother from an open book which is cut from a separate piece of paper and placed in her hands. 3) Sally holds a small bouquet of flowers out to her father and holds a basket of flowers slightly behind her back. The posies and basket are cut as part of the figure.  4) Thomas extends one hand out to take the flowers from his daughter and rests his other hand nonchalantly from his hip (a classic Edouart pose). 5) Mary Lavarell stands behind Mr. Lea holding a large purse. She wears eye glasses which are delicately cut as part of her figure. These figures are also embellished with Edouart’s light chalk lining. The background lithograph has some uneven toning and some light moisture staining. You can see all of this in the images. There are some slight abrasions and minor creasing to the ground. You might not see these quite so well in these medium resolution images but I’m happy to send larger format photos to you via email. Framed size is 16 ½” x 21”.

Signature on Lea Family Silhouette--Lower Left Corner

Frances Clark Lea

Mary Clark Lea

The small white speck over the area of Mary's eye looks to be a speck of something fuzzy.  However, her eyelash is missing so it may be a scrape.  Unfortunately, I did not notice this when the silhouette was out of the frame and can't remove it without possible damage to the backing paper which has provenance on it.

Sally Ann Lea

Thomas Tatnall Lea

Mary Lavarell (governess)

Mary Lavarell's wonderful spectacles

Robeson Lea Perot, to whom these silhouettes descended, was an important architect from Philadelphia who designed (among other buildings), the Phillip duPont Manor House in Fairville, PA. Perot was the grandson of Thomas Tatnall and Frances Lea. He designed several other buildings for the duPont family and the DuPont company. He married and had two children with Eleanor Ball DuPont. However, they divorced but I have not yet been able to trace who else he married who might be the “Mrs. Robeson Lea Perot” who loaned the silhouette. I also have not yet been able to find what exhibit she loaned the Lea Family silhouette to.

These are fantastic silhouettes, full of history and provenance. The figures are wonderfully detailed with great accessories. A copy of the Laughon’s book, August Edouart: A Quaker Album, a new copy of Susan Stroud Robeson's published genealogy of the Robeson family (see the book noted below--the copy provided is a soft bound 2 volume photocopy reproduction but together by a bookseller) as well as all of my research, will be included with the two silhouettes. Wouldn’t it be fun to go to the Friends’ Library and see the duplicates of silhouettes that you own!?

(#5012)    Price on Request

References:

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, digital library, http://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/5079 and http://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/5427.

Laughon, Helen & Nel, August Edouart: A Quaker Album, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College 1987. 163-168.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, digital collection, http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/159735.html?mulR=85 and http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/148122.html?mulR=4899.

Robeson, Susan Stroud, An historical and Genealogical Account of Andrew Robeson of Schotland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and of his Descendants from 1655 to 1916.  J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1916.  Online copy can be read at http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=7SxWAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader.

Please see the Silhouettist Biographies page for more information about Edouart. 

Lea Family Background creases (not very noticeable)

Lea Family Background Staining

Back of Robeson Family Frame Sealed With 100% Acid Free Rag Board.

Staining to left & right edges of Robeson Family silhouette.  Caused by hide glue adherence to canvas backing (done by Edouart or his assistant).

Staining & scuffing to upper edge of Robeson Family silhouette.

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