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Lot Number: 146
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Estimate Range: $10,000 - $12,000
Current Bidding Status
This Lot is CLOSED for Absentee Bidding.
Complete “Prodigal Son” Series of Four Original Hand-Colored Engraved Prints by Amos Doolittle of New Haven, Connecticut, a.k.a. “The Paul Revere of Connecticut” An Impressive Matched Framed Set

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AMOS DOOLITTLE (American, 1754-1832), 1814 Complete Set of Four with Hand-Color, Religious Allegory Engravings, Published & Sold by Shelton & Kensett Cheshire, CT., comprising: The Prodigal Son Receiving his Patrimony / The Prodigal Son Revelling with Harlots / The Prodigal Son in Misery / The Prodigal Son Returned to his Father, each measuring 13.75” x 10.25”, contemporarily and uniformly Framed to 15.25” x 11.75”, Choice Very Fine.

This popular well known engraved series is engraved by the famed historic early American Engraver, Amos Doolittle of New Haven, Connecticut, a.k.a. “The Paul Revere of Connecticut”. This superior quality complete original Four-part Series Set is very clean, well printed and has good strong colors on period wove paper. It consists of: The Prodigal Son Receiving His Patrimony; The Prodigal Son Revelling with Harlots; The Prodigal Son in Misey; The Prodigal Son Returned to his Father.

This is a Set of four engravings, being plots the Bible parable of the “Prodigal Son”, showing a young Wastrel receiving his inheritance from his father ("The Prodigal Son Receiving the Patrimony"), his squandering of the money ("The Prodigal Son Revelling with Harlots"), his destitution ("The Prodigal Son in Misery"), and finally his plea to his father for forgiveness ("The Prodigal Son Returned to His Father").

These engraved Copper-Plates were fashioned not only for the purpose of depicting religious allegory, but also appeared against the backdrop of the War of 1812 and the New England “Secession Plot” at the Hartford Convention. “The demoralizing influence - politically, socially, and more important, economically - of the War of 1812 is well documented. New Englanders were so obsessively against 'Mr. Madison's War' that they met in Hartford to consider sedition.... The timing may have been coincidental, but it was during this period that Doolittle issued a message of hope to bolster the morale of his countrymen” - (Quote by) O'Brien.

"In the course of his lengthy career as an engraver, Doolittle had illustrated several religious works and Bibles. The PRODIGAL SON series is, however, his major independent production in that field. It is remarkable that Doolittle dressed his figures in contemporary dress and placed them in a setting of familiar New England landscapes and buildings. The scene of revelry, possibly derived from similar designs by Hogarth, is rather stilted and unconvincing, but the other scenes that appealed more directly to the Puritan morality are presented with utter sincerity and resultant effectiveness" - Shadwell.

An important, rarely encountered lovely complete set of these famous Amos Doolittle engravings from one of the first, most important engravers in the United States, almost never encountered as here, a complete set uniformly period framed and ready to hang on display. (4 items)

See References: SHADWELL 110, 111, 112, 113.; STAUFFER 539, 540, 541.; FIELDING 391.; Donald C. O'Brien, AMOS DOOLITTLE: ENGRAVER OF THE REPUBLIC (New Castle: Oak Knoll, 2008), page 79.v
Keywords: Revolutionary War, Civil War, AMOS DOOLITTLE, Engraved Print, Connecticut, Paul Revere, Religious Allegory Engravings, Prodigal Son, Bible,
Lot Number: 146
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Estimate Range: $10,000 - $12,000
Early American History Auctions, Inc.
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