Lot 27: ROBERT WALTER WEIR (1803-1889)

SAINT NICHOLAS signed with initials " W.W., c.l. - - oil on panel " 29 3/4 x 24 3/8 in. (75 x 62 cm.) PROVENANCE Governeur Kemble III, Cold Spring, New York By descent through the family John Gordon Campbell, Madison, New Jersey James Ricau EXHIBITED Newark, Newark Museum, " Christmas - - 50 Years Ago, " 1959 Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum, long-term loan, 1969-1984 LITERATURE R. W. G. Vail, "Santa Claus Visits the Hudson," " The New-York Historical Society Bulletin, " 1951, vol. 35, p. 343 R. W. G. Vail, "An Encore for Santa Claus, " " The New-York Historical Society Bulletin, " 1953, vol. 37, p. 329 L. Dimmick, "Robert Weir's " Saint Nicholas: " A Knickerbocker lcon," " The Art Bulletin, " Sept. 1984, vol. 66, pp. 465-483, no. 5, fig. 6 Robert Weir described the first of his series of six works of St. Nicholas, most likely painted between 1837 and 1847, as "one of the best things I have done" in a letter to his friend and fellow Knickerbocker, the distinguished author and congressman, Gulian Verplanck. When the first work was exhibited in 1837, it received almost universal praise and was hailed as one of the best paintings in the exhibition. This version of the painting is the only one remaining in private hands. Weir has attended to the compositional problems that plagued the initial work, and also extended and deepened his iconography. The most significant change was the replacement of the original horizontal format with the more appropriate vertical format. The other versions in this series are in the collections of The Butler Institute of American Art, The New-York Historical Society, the National Museum of American Art (Smithsonian Institution), The Brooklyn Museum, and the Sheldon Swope Art Gallery in Terra Haute, Indiana. The details vary on each, but all describe an impish St. Nicholas standing before a tiled fireplace, surrounded by an array of accoutrements. The rich iconographic content of this work draws on a number of religious, national, and local traditions. As the alternative title Santa Claus indicates, this was one of the first representations to combine the Catholic St. Nicholas with the English Father Christmas in a uniquely American Santa. The Catholic association is emphasized in the repetition of three (the balls above the seal, the stocking and the switches), the rosary and the ermine-lined " mozzetta. " The rosary and " mozzetta " allude to Nicholas's role as a bishop in the Catholic Church, while the number three and the balls are traditional Christian symbols of this saint. The greatest part of Weir's iconography in this picture pays tribute to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of the Knickerbockers and of New York. Both The New-York Historical Society and the Knickerbockers were regularly celebrating St. Nicholas Day (December 6) at this time. In 1809, Washington Irving published a comic history of the Dutch in New York, describing the influence of St. Nicholas. Nicholas miraculously guided Oloffe Van Kortlandt's expedition to Manhattan, and there he revealed a vision of the future New Amsterdam: the smoke from his pipe ascended into the air and spread like a cloud over head. And Van Kortlandt.... saw that the smoke spread over a great extent of the country and as he considered it more attentively, he fancied that the great volume of smoke assumed a variety of marvellous forms, where in dim obscurity he saw shadowed out palaces and domes and lofty spires, all of which lasted but a moment, and then faded away... And when St. Nicholas had smoked his pipe, he twisted it in his hatband and laying a finger beside his nose gave the astonished Van Kortlandt a very significant look... Thus, Nicholas inspired the founding of New Amsterdam and was established as its patron saint, and when the city became New York, Nicholas continued as its saint. Weir emphasizes the continuity of Nicholas connection with the city by including the coat of arms above the fireplace. This insignia is the seal of New York City, and it is crowned by the three balls that symbolize Nicholas" tutelage. Weir also includes the pipe tucked in the hatband, the gesture of complicity, and the smoke in the fireplace from the story. In other areas of the painting, Weir continues to draw on Dutch tradition in his iconography. The broken delft pipe on the floor, for instance, alludes to the Knickerbocker initiation rite of smoking such a pipe. The chair is in the style of William and Mary, and a toy Dutch windmill pokes out from the pack on Nicholas's back. A number of elements, such as the coat of arms, combinU allusiOns to vArious @traditiOns. The@orange "efers aGain to William and the House of Orange, but it can also be seen as a Christian delicacy. The delft tiles surrounding the fireplace are, of course, of Dutch origin,`but thei also contain scriptura| illust"ations,`including some j quite appropriate images of the Natividy. Even the stile of the painting contributes to the simbolisml as Weib infusec his )ndividuql Amerisan stylu with that of 17th century Dutch genre Painting~ The wa"m ear$hen colors, the`disposition of |ight and shadowl the exceptiona| use of panel (Weir usually worked on canvas and the meticulous use of detail all contribute to the 17th century Dutch ambience. This painting represents a particelar mom5nt in wHich num%rous histories and traditions briefly converge in the figure of St. N&cholas.fThroughaits speiificity@of symbl and 0its croSs-cultual appeAl, WeirWs " San$a ClausP" becomUs unive"sal andPeternalN. ROBERT SPEAR DUNNING (1829-1905) ROSES, PEACHES A-D CHERR-ES sigEed R.S.N" Dunning " and dated 1891 on the reverse - - oil on canvas 13 x 8 5/8 in. (33 x 22 cm.) PROVENANCE JWatson Vamily ECtate, FQll River, Massachusetts.