Feb 04, 2016 - Sale 2404

Sale 2404 - Lot 29

Price Realized: $ 15,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 25,000
(AMERICAN REVOLUTION--1780.) André, John; artist. A Representation of Major John André . . . going from the Vulture Sloop of War to the Shore of Haverstraw Bay. Aquatint, 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches; trimmed almost to image, three very short early paper repairs to edges, minor wear, mount remnants on verso. [New York or England?], circa 1781?

Additional Details

This engraving was done from a sketch drawn by the British spy Major André on the morning of his execution. It depicts him being rowed across the Hudson River to his fateful meeting with Benedict Arnold. The caption reads in part: "A representation of Major John André, Adjutant General to the Kings Forces in North America, going from the Vulture Sloop of War to the shore of Haverstraw Bay in Hudsons River the Night of the 23d. of September 1780, in a Boat which was sent for him . . . under the Sanction of a Flag of Truce, by Major General Arnold, who then commanded the Rebel Forces in that district. The above is an exact Copy of a Drawing sketch'd with a Pen by Major André himself, the Morning on which he was to have been executed . . . and found on his Table with other Papers the next day (being that of his Death) by his servant, and delivered by him on his arrival at New York to Lieut. Colonel Crosbie of the 22d. Regiment, who has caused this Engraving to be taken from the Original in his Possession, as a small Mark of his Friendship for that very valuable and unfortunate officer."
Provenance: found framed by Kennedy & Co. Rare Prints of New York circa 1940s or 1950s (excised label included). None known at auction since Bangs, Merwin & Co.'s Morrell sale, 12 January 1869, though Rosenbach did offer an example in his 1948 catalogue.