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This is a specific reply in Miguel Juarez's question regarding a
possible John Trumbull drawing, followed and a comment regarding
sources, internet and otherwise.
The largest collection of Trumbull's papers and drawings are at Yale
University. There are a number of publications on this collection from
the first catalogue of the Trumbull bequest in the 1840s, John Weir's
book of 1901, John Hill Morgan's book on the Trumbull paintings of the
Revolution (1926), Theodore Sizer's catalogue raisonne (1950 and 1967),
and Helen Cooper's and Irma Jaffe's more recent books and exhibitions.
In several of these (especially Sizer), you will find accounts of the
spurious Trumbull drawings sold at auction in Philadelphia in the late
1890s, for which a catalogue was published. Your staff member should be
reading these basic detailed sources rather than searching on the
internet for "Art Facts" on something that suggests more traditional
research. These books are not rare and should be readily accessible on
loan if not available in the university library. Your staff member,
being a librarian, should be aware of these basic sources on Trumbull,
"The Artist of the Anmerican Revolution".
Since Chicago did not exist at the time Trumbull produced his
paintings, the reference to Lord Storey & Co. is not clear, especially
since you have not noted whether it is a printed or handwritten
inscription and where it is placed on the drawing (on the verso? as an
imprint?). This is obviously a clue of some kind which could be
researched in old Chicago directories or by doing a key word search
under "Publishers" on OCLC if you think it is printer.
While the internet and OCLC can be very helpful in research and in
matters bibliographical, when questions such as this one arise,
shouldn't books and publications be consulted as the first recourse?
The Internet may do no more than suggest these same sources which are
already at hand. The staff member should be doing some basic research
on her own before even considering turning to an appraiser. Trumbull's
paintings and drawings (as well as the later forgeries) are among the
most documented in the history of early American art. How much more
information could an appraiser supply than that which is already readily
available?
As an autobiographical aside, during my second year as a graduate
student at Yale, I spent an entire term researching Trumbull paintings
in a class directed by Jules Prown.
Raymond Smith
R.W. Smith Bookseller
New Haven, Ct.
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