Doughty, Thomas “Fair Mount Water Works..."

Thomas Doughty.  “Fair Mount Water Works.  Dedicated to the Select and Common Councils of the City of Philadelphia.  By their much obliged Servants, T. Doughty & J. Hill.  F. Graff Esqr. Architect & Engineer.” 

Philadelphia: H.C. Carey & I. Lea and New York: H.I. Megarey, ca. 1822.  19 1/2 x 26 3/4.  Aquatint by J. Hill.   Narrow margins all around.  Title trimmed off.  Print is mounted to an older piece of time-toned paper.  Old mount but print is stable.  Light scattered foxing in margins and in sky.  One inch long abrasion in sky.  Else, good condition.  Very scarce.  Stauffer: 1333.  A/A  

Print is in need of professional paper conservation which will make it more visually appealing and increase its value

Thomas Doughty (1793-1856), a native of Philadelphia, became a professional artist in 1819 against the advice of his friends.  He was one of the first American-born artists who devoted himself to landscape painting, developing his skills with numerous drawings and paintings of scenes around Philadelphia and elsewhere.  His influence on American art was considerable and he is considered one of the founders of the Hudson River school of artists.   This print is a co-operative venture between Doughty and John Hill (1770-1850), an Englishman who had immigrated to the United States in 1816, where he was to establish himself as the pre-eminent American aquatinter of the day.   

This scarce print shows the Fairmount Water Works just after it was changed from steam to water power.  The image shows the waterworks, with the new mill house de designed in neoclassical style by F. Graff, from the west side of the Schuylkill, where Philadelphians are shown strolling along the canal tow path.   In the 1820s, both Doughty and Hill were trying to make a living from their art work and this print was clearly intended by them as a marketable image that would take advantage of interest in the newly converted waterworks.  The print was co-published by Carey & Lea of Philadelphia and H.J. Megarey of  New York.  Carey & Lea were the successors to the firm, Carey & Son, that had been working for a number of years with Hill on a portfolio of prints entitled American Scenery.  Henry J. Megarey had just made contact with Hill in the summer of 1821, in his efforts to complete a different portfolio of prints.  Hill would soon move to New York to take up this project, the Hudson River Portfolio, and this would firmly establish him as the best aquatinter in this country.

This image of the waterworks was likely produced before Hill moved to New York, in April 1822.  From the great scarcity of this print, it seems that it was not a successful business venture for either Hill or Doughty, and this may be one of the reasons Hill left Philadelphia for the promising Hudson River Portfolio project.  This print is scarcer than Daughty’s other large print of the Water Works engraved by C. G. Childs, where the engine house was obscured.  Despite its apparent lack of success in 1822, the print is a superb example both of Doughty’s artistic ability and Hill’s aquatinting skill.  It is one of the most attractive and rarest of waterworks prints, a gem of Philadelphia interest.