Merino Hill Barnyard

Periodca. 1890

MediumWatercolor on paper

Dimensions10 × 13 in. (25.4 × 33 cm)

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineMuseum Purchase with Funds from Edward N. King, Jr., 2012

Object number2012.14.4

DescriptionDepiction of a range of barns and outbuildings. At the right is a narrow structure (with the roof not finished by the artist) that sits on a very high stone basement. The main barn appears to its left, also on a high stone basement with a door opening into the courtyard at the main floor level. A small one story structure abutts the main barn on the left. Two one story structures sit at 90 degrees to its left, forming a courtyard with the far right hand barn. Two farmhands are shown in the courtyard. One, wearing blue pants, blue shirt, and white hat, is feeding a flock of geese. The other, in tan pants, light shirt, and white hat, is working the handle of a pump. He appears to be an African-American. The outbuilding complex is shown in general disrepair.
Curatorial RemarksThe cow barn to the right and the main barn still stand at Merino Hill. Only the foundations of the sheep barn on the left remain.NotesThis view of the barn complex at Merino Hill in Upper Freehold, Monmouth County, was executed about 1890 by a cousin of the Wright family. It is one of three works by the same artist, the other two depicting the old kitchen interior (accession number 2012.14.3) and the main residence (accession number 2012.14.5). The principal residence at Merino Hill was built between 1809 and 1811 by Samuel G. Wright (1781 - 1845), a successful Philadelphia merchant who made this large estate his summer home. The main barn, on its high stone basement, appears in the center of the picture. It is flanked on the right by the cow barn, its roof unfinished by the artist. The line of low buildings on the left served as sheep barns. Wright was one of the first farmers in New Jersey to raise Merino sheep, prized for the softness and fineness of their wool. Two farmhands are also depicted, the individual on the left appearing to be an African-American.

Collections

ProvenanceWalter L. Wright (1835 - 1910); to his son Henry H. Wright; to his daughter Elizabeth G. Wright Meirs (1917 - 2007); to the family of her nephew Richard S. Wright (1941 - 2010); sold at Freeman's in Philadelphia on 13 November 2012.