Lot 150: *JAMES H. CAFFERTY (1819-1869) AND *CHARLES G. ROSENBERG (1818-1879)

signed with the artists' initials J.C. and C.R., l.l.; also indistinctly inscribed Wall Street, 1789/George Wash.... on the stretcher oil on canvas Painted circa 1860s. America's first chief executive took his oath of office on April 30, 1789 in New York City on the balcony of the Senate Chamber at Federal Hall on Wall Street. The votes of the electors had taken over two months to tally, but when all the votes were counted, General Washington became the first and only United States President to be unanimously elected by the electoral college. Washington's inauguration was preceded by a nine-day journey from Mount Vernon to New York, and in each town along the way the President-elect was greeted with crowds and ceremony. Inauguration day began with the ringing of church bells across the city followed by a full ceremonial procession to Federal Hall, during which Washington was escorted by a military contingent of 500 soldiers; the day ended with the citizens of New York celebrating in the streets while fireworks exploded overhead. Exhibition records from the National Academy of Design and The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts show that both James H. Cafferty and Charles G. Rosenberg were active in New York during the middle of the 19th century and that they completed at least one other collaborative work, Wall Street, Half Past 2 O'Clock, October 13, 1857 (figure 1, 1858, oil on canvas, 50 by 39 1/2 in., Museum of the City of New York, New York). A painting by both artists entitled Wall Street in 1789--Sketch for Large Picture was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1860, but no exhibition records can be found for a larger version of the same subject.

Mrs. George Dyer, New Hope, Pennsylvania Private Collection, Greenwich, Connecticut Gift to the present owner from the above, 1984