Description
Wall painting from the Prescott Tavern, Jaffrey, New Hampshire (built in 1803). Self-taught itinerant artist, inventor, publisher, and adventurer Rufus Porter began painting murals in private homes, taverns, and inns around New England in 1824. He had been traveling throughout Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, producing “correct likenesses in less than fifteen minutes,” with the help of a type of camera obscura he invented in 1820.1] Possibly discouraged by his inability to sell his small landscapes or portraits, Porter reprised an earlier career as a fiddle player to supplement his fee, and also decorated rooms. After performing at the brick Prescott Tavern in East Jaffrey, New Hampshire, in 1824, Porter stayed on to paint the walls of the tavern’s taproom parlor, most likely to pay the debt he owed proprietor Colonel Benjamin Prescott for room and board. This mural is one of the Prescott Tavern walls. Medium: Watercolour on plaster.
Image Licence
Public Domain
Image Credit
Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Location
Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Country
USA
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
Buildings & Architecture