A COLLECTION OF PROFILES BY THOMAS POLE, M.D. [manuscript title]

Pole, Thomas

Published by [London & Bristol, 1824

Forty-four ink and watercolor silhouettes with engraved and watercolor borders, plus watercolor title sheet, approximately 11½ x 9¾ inches, with seven additional silhouettes mounted on smaller cards in varying sizes, and one architectural watercolor drawing, plus two silhouettes and two sketches apparently not by Pole. Later pencil ownership inscriptions on blank versos, occasional pencil annotations. Scattered light foxing and dust soiling. Very good. Born in Philadelphia, physician and Quaker minister Thomas Pole (1753-1829) was the youngest son of John Pole (1705-1755), a Somerset tailor who had emigrated to America, and Rachel Smith of Burlington, New Jersey. Pole travelled from Burlington to England in 1775 to visit members of his family, then undertook an extraordinary tour through England and Wales, travelling over 6500 miles, primarily on horseback, visiting Quaker meetings along his journey. He decided to remain in England and, after a medical apprenticeship in Maidenhead, settled in London in 1781. In 1789 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. His popular treatise THE ANATOMICAL INSTRUCTOR. (London, 1790), concerned the preparation of anatomical specimens. After a move to Bristol with his wife, Elizabeth, in 1802, he continued his medical work, also becoming involved in promoting the educational systems of Joseph Lancaster and William Smith. Pole was a talented amateur watercolorist and painter of silhouettes. The silhouettes collected here were prepared by Pole evidently as a collection for his own personal retention, and include the profiles of family members, friends, and noteworthy acquaintances, many of them Quakers. Several of the sitters are American. Perhaps the most surprising inclusion is a silhouette of Mohawk Indian chief John Norton (1770-1831), captioned with his Indian name, Teyoninhokarawen. Norton was the son of a half-Cherokee, half English father and Scottish mother. In a strange twist, Joseph Brant, the famous Mohawk chief, adopted him. When Brant died, the Mohawks made Teyoninhokarawen their new chief. Like Brant, he aided the British in many ways, including translating religious texts into Mohawk. This silhouette was executed in 1804, when he visited England to represent the Iroquois in treaty negotiations with the English. Among the notable figures depicted here are founding father John Dickinson (1732-1808), drawn within a roundel; James Bringhurst (1730-1810), a notable Philadelphia Quaker businessman; and another Philadelphia Quaker businessman, James Pemberton (1723-1809), remembered as an abolitionist and for supporting the Delaware Indians. Other prominent Quakers included in this collection are the Rev. Samuel West (1731-1807), pastor of Dartmouth, Massachusetts; William Smith of Bristol, the founder of the Adult Schools in England; educator Joseph Lancaster (1778- 1838); Mary Ann Schimmelpenninck (1778-1856) and poet James Montgomery (1771-1854), both noted Quaker abolitionists; Richard Reynolds (1735-1816) of Bristol, ironmaster at Coalbrookdale and philanthropist; and poet and gardener Thomas Wilkinson (1751-1836) of Yanwath, Cumbria, remembered as a friend of William Wordsworth. An extensive collection of well-executed silhouettes, with a focus on Quaker figures in England and America. A complete list of portrait sitters is available upon request. Seller Inventory # WRCAM52382

Bibliographic Details

Title: A COLLECTION OF PROFILES BY THOMAS POLE, M.D...
Publisher: [London & Bristol
Publication Date: 1824