| Method | Steel engraving |
| Artist | Joseph Napoleon Gimbrede after John Trumbull |
| Published | Painted by Col. Trumbull. Engraved by J.N. Gimbrede. Printed by James Irwin. [c.1860] |
| Dimensions | Image 240 x 310 mm, Plate 300 x 385 mm, Sheet 340 x 450 mm |
| Notes |
A separately issued popular print of the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the pivotal moments of the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, engraved by Gimbrede after the celebrated oil paintings The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17th, 1775 by the painter and colonial veteran John Trumbull. The scene is set during the third and final attack by British forces upon the redoubt established atop Breed's Hill by the Colonial forces the night before the battle. At centre, the Founding Father Joseph Warren is shown lying dead, having been struck by a musket ball by the advancing British army. His body is supported by one of his compatriots, while Major Knowlton stands above, holding a musket. A redcoat rushes forward to bayonet the stricken Warren, but his action is arrested by Major John Small, who had previously served alongside both Warren and Colonial general Israel Putnam in the French and Indian War. Trumbull, who had witnessed the battle while stationed in the Colonial camp across the water on Roxbury Hill, wanted to emphasise the pathos of former allies now driven to fighting each other. The figure to the extreme right of the scene is the Colonial lieutenant Thomas Grosvenor, flanked by a black man historically identified as the freedman Peter Salem, though now identified as a slave of Grosvenor. Salem instead may be the figure whose face is just visible below the Colonial standards at far left. Trumbull's scene is one of the most recognisable and widely disseminated images of the American Revolution, with versions of Trumbull's painting represented in the Wadsworth Athenaeum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Engravings of this and Turnbull's other painting of the Death of Montgomery were released by subscription, with examples of various states of these engravings represented in most of the major American artistic collections. Nineteenth century examples were extremely popular, with the Gimbrede steel engraving supposedly first issued in 1842, engraved 'Expressly for the New York Mirror' and published by Fanshaw. Other examples, like that held in the Library of Congress, were published, as here, by James Irwin, with the LOC example carrying an additional inscription line describing it as an 'Offering of the Carriers of the Press, January 1, 1861.' Like other recorded examples, the current engraving includes a quote attributed to Franklin below the title: 'The path to Liberty is bloody.' John Trumbull (1756-1843), the so-called 'Painter of the Revolution' was an American history painter, portraitist, and veteran of the Revolutionary War, best known for his 1817 painting of the Declaration of Independence. His artistic talents were put to use by the Colonial Army during the early stages of the war in sketching plans of both sides' emplacements, camp positions, and troop movements. Despite not being personally involved in the fighting, Trumbull was an eye-witness of the Battle of Bunker Hill, and put to use his observations in a number of paintings depicting the Death of General Warren. After resigning from the Army, Trumbull moved to London to continue his studies under the Anglo-American painter Benjamin West, returning to America following an arrest for treason. After the recognition of the United States and the end of the Revolutionary War, Trumbull returned to London, and also spent time in Paris. His later years involved painting a number of portraits, including those of Washington, Clinton, Varick, and Alexander Hamilton, the last of which became the basis for the American ten dollar bill. Joseph Napoleon Gimbrede (fl.1840s-1860s) was an American line engraver. Condition: Minor marginal tears and creasing. Tear into plate at centre top, not affecting image. Old adhesive staining to verso. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £400.00 |
| Stock ID | 52948 |