Lehman, George “The Great Elm Tree of Shackamaxon (Now Kensington)”

George Lehman.  “The Great Elm Tree of Shackamaxon (Now Kensington).” 

[Philadelphia, ca. 1829].  Second state; Philadelphia: William Smith, ca. 1860+.  Aquatint by G. Lehman.  Chip in bottom left hand margin corner.  Paper lightly time-toned.  Else, very good condition.  Prints of Philadelphia: 79; Fielding: 951; Fowble: 258; Snyder: Mirror, 589.

George Lehman, a native of Lancaster, moved to Philadelphia where he became a noted artist, engraver, lithographer and publisher.  Perhaps his first work of importance is this lovely view of Philadelphia from Kensington.  Though this scene is similar works by William Birch and John James Barralet, Lehman drew his own image of this popular view-point.  The famous Treaty Tree stands majestically in the center of the image, with the bustling port of Philadelphia seen in the distance beneath the tree’s branches.  There are many boats on the river, and a sailing ship is being constructed on the beach at left.  A number of pedestrians are shown in the foreground, including an artist sitting beneath the tree making a sketch.  Interestingly, a family of goats seems to have lived around the Treaty Tree, for Barralet showed goats in his watercolor of 1796, and three goats are also shown in Lehman’s view, one walking along a branch of the tree itself.