Köllner, Augustus “Germantown Battle. (Chew’s House.)”

Augustus Köllner.  “Germantown Battle.  (Chew’s House.)” 

Philadelphia: ca. 1840.  4 3/8 x 6 1/8.  Engraving by Rawdon, Wright and Hatch.  Narrow margins top and sides.  Faint browning in sky.  Else, very good condition.  

Augustus Theodore Frederick Adam Köllner, born in Wurttenberg in 1812, worked as an artist, engraver and lithographer in Stuttgart and Paris before emigrating to America in 1839.  Köllner settled in Washington where he continued as a professional draftsman and also began to make drawings of American scenery.  In 1840 he moved to Philadelphia, meeting P.S. Duval, who hired Köllner to draw illustrations for Duval and Huddy’s U.S. Military Magazine.  Köllner achieved considerable success in Philadelphia as a lithographic artist, producing a wide range of prints, including trade cards, labels, and illustrations.  From his earliest days in the United States, Köllner traveled around the country making scenic drawings of his adopted land, including a number of views of Philadelphia.

The British Army used Cliveden, the handsome Chew family home in Germantown, for their headquarters.  Thus it was at the center of the Battle of Germantown.  The Continental troops are shown advancing on the house where British soldiers are shooting muskets from the windows and the roof.