Long Branch, N. J.

Artist Joshua Parker

Period1834

MediumWatercolor, gouache and ink on paper

Dimensions8 × 9 in. (20.3 × 22.9 cm)

InscribedInscribed in large letters lower center, "LONG BRANCH NJ," Inscribed lower left, "Feb 4 1834."

SignedSigned lower right, "Painted by J. Parker."

ClassificationsDrawings

Credit LineGift of Mrs. H. B. Sherman, 1937

Object number1080

DescriptionA villagescape view of a group of one and two story houses, some with outbuildings, clustered around the intersection of three roads. The houses all have black roofs, and, except for one house in the lower right corner, black windows. Picket and rail fences mark off several large lots as well as property frontage along the roads. Trees dot the landscape, and an orchard appears in the lower right corner.
Curatorial RemarksThere are presently four works known by Joshua Parker - three views of Long Branch village dated 1834, 1837 and 1849, and another drawing of nearby Oceanport dated 1857. Two are done in monochromatic colors of gray or black, and the other two are in full color. The four villagescapes are signed variously "J. Parker," "Joshua Parker," or simply initialed "J P." Parker's unusual style did not change between 1834 and 1857. He depicted houses in the same manner with black windows and roofs, plus his three views of Long Branch village are taken from the same vantage point and with the same untrained manner of depicting perspective. What the village drawings do document, however, is the rapid pace of change at Long Branch in those years. Broadway, for example, becomes a busier thoroughfare lined with new commercial buildings, a church, and a school. Smaller streets have also been opened up on either side of Norwood Avenue in areas that were formerly large lots. For the 1849 Long Branch watercolor, see accession number 1995.553.NotesThe scene depicts the village of Long Branch, Monmouth County, as it appeared in 1834, looking north. The road running from left to right in the middle distance is Broadway. Norwood Avenue in the center foreground intersects with it at right angles, while Bath Avenue angles off from the intersection to the lower right corner. A key that accompanies this charming watercolor identifies twelve owners or occupants of the sixteen principal buildings shown. These included such families as Woolley, Slocum, Cook, West, and Vanderveer, most of whom remained prominent in Long Branch for generations. The full name of J. Parker comes from another view owned privately of nearby Oceanport by this distinctive artist that is signed with his first name of Joshua plus his last name. Efforts to identify him further have so far not proven successful, even though the large Parker family lived in the Long Branch / Little Silver area since the earliest years of settlement in that part of Monmouth County.

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