General White's, Brunswick

Period1799

MediumInk on paper

Dimensions7.8 × 12.6 in. (19.8 × 32 cm)

InscribedInscribed upper left, "No 9." Inscribed upper center, "New Brunswick New Jersey." Inscribed lower center, "General White's / Brunswick July 99." Heavily annotated with notes indicating the colors of various architectural features.

SignedSigned in pencil upper left, "Original drawing by Archd Robertson."

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineGift of Stephen C. Clark, Esq., in Memory of his Father, Alfred Corning Clark, 1936

Object number1994.570

DescriptionA street view showing a large five bay, two story house on the right with two chimneys, an attached smaller structure in the foreground, and what appears to be a privy behind it. There is an ornamental picket fence in front of the house, and a board fence to its right. Landscaping includes two trees in front, and one to the rear. What looks like a public pump appears to the left of the picket fence. A post and rail fence runs along the other side of the street. Other structures depicted in the distance include a hip roof, five bay, two story house with a high attic, two chimneys and a two story porch that sits behind a board or picket fence. To its left is a row of three attached two story, three bay dwellings, each with a single chimney. The drawing is heavily annotated. The names of "Mr. Guess" and "Miss Hayes" are noted over the buildings in the distance. Colors of various architectural features are also indicated, such as "red roof, white front, white fence, gable gray," etc.
Curatorial RemarksThis drawing was apparently a field sketch created by Archibald Robertson (1765 - 1835), a Scottish born artist who immigrated to New York City in 1791. The fact that it has extensive annotations that indicate colors for various architectural features suggests strongly that Robertson may have intended to produce a more formal work based on the sketch. Some of the inscriptions on the drawing are apparently in the hand of Andrew J. Robertson, the artist's son.NotesThe large house on the right side of the drawing served as a residence for General Anthony Walton White (1750 - 1803), a native of New Brunswick, Middlesex County, and son of Anthony White III and Elizabeth Morris. White was born at Buccleuch in New Brunswick, and served in the Continental Army during the Revolution. He rose through the ranks to become a Lieutenant Colonel of the cavalry, seeing much action, especially in the south. About 1783, White moved to New York City. By 1793, he returned to New Brunswick, and the following year was appointed by George Washington as a Brigadier General of cavalry in the expedition against insurgents in the Whiskey Rebellion. White occupied this house until his death in 1803 at the age of fifty-two.

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