Lot 181: Frederick Jurgen Huge 1809-1878 , The Schooner Cornelia watercolor, pen and ink on paper

with bonneted ladies and gentleman along with sailors on her decks; flying the 'Great Luminary' American standard; inscribed Drawn and Painted by J.F. Huge Bridgeport, Conn., 1841 , l.r. watercolor, pen and ink on paper

20 1/2 by 27 1/4 in.

PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE OWNER
This is one of Huge's earlier works. The title on the bottom band is almost indecipherable because of over-painting, but it appears to say New Bedford-Schooner Cornelia-Cap't. Ricketson. There is much more detail of the Bridgeport shoreline than is visible in Huge's other paintings. There is a lighthouse (the same one that is pictured in other Huge paintings), some buildings and some landscape. In Huge's other paintings, the shoreline is much further back in the distance. There is also script visible in a wave as follows: Cornealia [sic] in tow. There in an historical aspect to this painting that may have significance to the slave business and the Underground Railroad. The schooner was owned in part by Joseph Ricketson, a famous New Bedford abolitionist and participant in the Underground Railroad. According to a research paper written for the National Park Service, "how many fugitives from slavery Ricketson may have housed is unknown, but his involvement in the Underground Railroad is the best documented of any of the city's [New Bedford] white abolitionists". (Excerpted from Fugitive Slave Traffic and the Maritime World of New Bedford, by Kathryn Grover, 1998) Ricketson furthermore was among the first to befriend and assist the renowned fugitive slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass when Douglass arrived in New Bedford. Douglass has been brought to New Bedford from Newport, Rhode Island by Ricketson and an associate. Ricketson is mentioned in Douglass' autobiography. Douglass worked for a time in Ricketson's candle oil factory. Ricketson was prominent in the local abolitionist movement, housed and assisted many escaped slaves. His son, Joseph, Jr., reportedly housed for a time Henry "Box" Brown, the slave who escaped Richmond, Virginia by shipping himself in a box to Philadelphia. In all of Huge's documented works, there is a wide black band at the bottom of the painting that contains a description of the type of vessel, the name of the vessel, and the name of the owner or captain. It is possible to vaguely distinguish some of the writing under the black paint: "New Bedford", "Cornelia" and "Cap't. Ricketson".