Upper Ferry Bridge - West View
George Lehman, 1829

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Upper Ferry Bridge
Upper Ferry Bridge Upper Ferry Bridge Upper Ferry Bridge
George Lehman (d. 1870) (artist and engraver)
Upper Ferry Bridge - West View
Probably from Views of Philadelphia
C.G. Childs & R. H. Hobson, Philadelphia: 1829
Hand-colored aquatint
12 x 16 inches, overall
8 x 10 inches, plate mark
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

Landscape view of Upper Ferry Bridge over the Schuykill River in Philadelphia, considered an engineering marvel in its day. The peaceful scene shows the stone span over a modest waterway with a small sailboat crossing in its shadow. A man with a fishing pole strolls along a sun-dappled wooded path along the bank.

The Upper Ferry Bridge was built in 1812 and destroyed by fire in 1838. Designed by German immigrant Lewis Wernwag, it was admired as a new "wonder of the world." Also known as "The Colossus of Philadelphia," the bridge was immortalized in a number of prints.

George Lehman was a painter and engraver based in Philadelphia. He exhibited Swiss and Pennsylvania views at the Pennsylvania Academy between 1825 and 1831, and painted a number of Philadelphia landscapes during that time period. Around 1829 he painted, engraved in aquatint and hand-colored a series of views of Pennsylvania towns. About 1831 he took up lithography, and worked for Childs & Inman. In 1835, he became a partner of both Childs and P.S. Duval. Meanwhile, he also worked as an aquatintist and designer for engravers. Eventually he formed the print publishing firm of Lehman & Baldwin.

Cephas G. Childs (1793-1871) was a Philadelphia engraver and publisher. After serving as a soldier in the War of 1812, he apprenticed to an engraver, and began producing work under his own name by 1818. He issued his "Views of Philadelphia" in 1826-33, many of which he engraved himself. In 1831-35 he formed the lithography firm Childs & Inman with artist Henry Inman, producing some of the best lithographs of the era. About 1845, he turned to newspaper publishing and editing, which he pursued for many years.

References:

Fielding, Mantle. Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers. Green Farms, Connecticut: Modern Books and Crafts, 1926, rev. ed. 1974. p. 213 (Lehman). p. 64 (Childs).

Groce, George C. and Wallace, David H. The New-York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860. New Haven : Yale University Press, 1969. p. 391 (Lehman).

McCain, Roger A. "Wernwag, Palmer, and the Earliest Pennsylvania Covered Bridges." William King Server. http://william-king.www.drexel.edu/top/bridge/schuylkill.html (9 April 2004).