Rembrandt Peale letter, forgery

Collection

Identifier: MS-0116

Staff Only

Rembrandt Peale letter, forgery

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Scope and Contents Note

In 1944 the college acquired a painting purportedly by Rembrandt Peale, a letter by Peale also came with the painting. For decades it hung in the President’s Office. In 2001 Dr. Carol Eaton was asked to authenticate the painting and determined it to be a forgery. This collection contains a letter from Rembrandt Peale to Peter Roller, April 5, 1851, a forgery by Ferdinand Danton, Jr. There is also correspondence regarding the painting of George Washington in Masonic regalia also purportedly by Peale.

Dates

Creation: 1851; 1944

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Publication rights

Copyright has not been assigned to Washington College. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Washington College as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical Information

Ferdinand Danton Jr. (1877-1939) was born in May to Ferdinand Danton (1849-1908) and Elizabeth O’Callaghan (1859-1929) in Manhattan, New York. He became an artist, his works included Trompe L’oeil and landscape paintings, but he is mostly known as a forger primarily of Peale’s painting spending two years in prison for it. He married and had at least three sons, he died in December of 1939 in New York City.

Biographical Information

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) was born on February 22nd in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) and Rachel Brewer Peale. Rembrandt followed in his father's and several siblings' footsteps and studied Art. In 1787 Charles brought his son to watch him paint George Washington; Rembrandt would go on to paint Washington in 1795. In 1822 Peale moved to New York City and continued his painting. Once again emulating his father Rembrandt also opened a museum, His was in Baltimore. Rembrandt married Eleanor May Short (1776-1836) and had nine children together. Peale’s legacy is his nearly six hundred paintings, many portraits of some of America’s most notable individuals. Peale died on October 3, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.