214

JOHN AND JAMES BARD

New York, 1815-1897

Portrait of the Gold Rush steamer Wilson G. Hunt.

Signed and dated lower right "Drawn and painted by J&J Bard, NY 1849". Inscribed at bottom "Steamer connecting Coney Island, Shreveburg, Red Bank & 'W...Cilly' [indistinct] New York Captain A.H. Haggerty - Commander 1849 For T. Hunt Bros. N.J. Built by Thom. & Wm. Colyer N.Y. Engines of Wilson G. Hunt built by H.R. Nenham N.Y. Drawn & painted by J & J Bard N.Y. 1849".
Provenance:
The Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia.
Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, March 2001.
The Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts, acquired from the above at that sale
.

Literature:
See J & J Bard Picture Painters
by Anthony J. Peluso (Hudson River Press, 1977), p. 7-9 for a reference to this painting, noting it is one of the last paintings signed by John and James Bard, and John Bard's demise.The Wilson G. Hunt was built at New York in 1849 for the excursion trade to Coney Island, but on March 2, 1850, shortly after her completion, she was sent around the Horn to San Francisco, arriving there in early 1850. She was immediately placed in the Sacramento River trade and became a "bonanza steamer," carrying gold speculators to the gold fields. She proceeded to make a fortune for her owners, clearing over $1 million in her first year. The steamer was sent to Victoria, British Columbia in August 1858, and ran for a short time on the New Westminster route. In October 1858 she was withdrawn, and then in the following year she replaced the steamer Constitution on Puget Sound. Early in the 1860s she was bought by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and taken to the Columbia River, where she operated on the Cascade Route under command of Captain John Wolf. She ran on the Columbia until 1869, carrying from 250 to 300 passengers, 100 head of stock and a substantial amount of freight on a single trip. The Wilson G. Hunt was rebuilt in 1865, and in 1869 she returned to Puget Sound. She continued to be used on various runs until 1890, when she was broken up and sold for iron scrap to Cohn & Company of San Francisco. Her hull was burned shortly thereafter.
Twin brothers John and James Bard were self-taught ship portraitists who specialized in steamships. The painting of the
Wilson G. Hunt was one of the last two paintings signed jointly by the Bard brothers, and it has been speculated that John Bard went off in search of gold shortly after the completion of this work. By March of 1850 James Bard was the only signer of these works. After November 1855, John reappears and is known to have become a "destitute painter" in and out of New York almshouses until his death October 18, 1856. James lived a long and artistically productive life. He died 41 years after his brother, on March 26, 1897.
Oil on canvas, relined, 28.75" x 49.5". Framed 39.25" x 59.25".
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