The Peaceable Kingdom 1760 (1 Viewer)

[PolarBear]

William Perkins, a member of Hezekiah Dunn's New Jersey Company of Rangers, passes through the wintry forest landscape of the Colony of New York. Perkins has seen enough blood and death in the past four years of the French & Indian War and on this day has no desire to stop and take the life of any living creature. Even the animals of the forest sense this mood and go on with their daily routine. The idea of a "Peaceable Kingdom" was familiar to the American colonists from their reading of the Bible and especially this passage of Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah. 11:6):

"The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."

Many in the colonies looked forward with hope to such a Peaceable Kingdom in their war torn land.

The passage was later the subject of early 19th C American art especially in the work of William Hicks (1780-1849) seen in an example below.

 

[lancer]

That's a nice "spirit of the season" picture, Randy.{bravo}} -- Al

 

[PolarBear]

That's a nice "spirit of the season" picture, Randy.{bravo}} -- Al

Thanks Al

I spotted those deer at Lowes in their Christmas section and they were too good to pass up for making a holiday scene,


Randy

 

[marco55]

Very very nice Randy.Happy Holidays to you.
Mark

 

[Andanna]

Thank you, Randy. Great edition to your photo collection.

 

[wayne556517]

Very festive mate,i like it.

 

[glossman]

Randy,

That is a very nice theme for your display.....just right for Christmas.

Happy Holidays.

Raymond.

 

[REVWARBUFF]

That's a beautiful scene Randy. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[theBaron]

William must be downwind of those deer, though, or they'd bolt

Seriously, though, nicely composed and appropriate theme, Randy, well done yet again!

Prost!
Brad

 

[PolarBear]

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Anyone want to take a guess about what Hicks is showing us in the mid/upper left corner of the painting? One of the men in the scene had a state named for him.


Randy

 

[glossman]

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Anyone want to take a guess about what Hicks is showing us in the mid/upper left corner of the painting? One of the men in the scene had a state named for him.


Randy

Randy,

The scene in the upper left of the painting might be William Penn and his delegation formulating a treaty with the Indians on the banks of the Delaware River.

Raymond

 

[PolarBear]

Randy,

The scene in the upper left of the painting might be William Penn and his delegation formulating a treaty with the Indians on the banks of the Delaware River.

Raymond

Raymond

You are exactly right. Hicks like Penn lived in what became known as Pennsylvania and was likewise a Quaker.
Hicks very likely based his "folk art" version of the subject on the famous painting by Benjamin West (below) which was also known via an engraving of 1775 (also below).
You will notice that the scene is reversed in the engraving as it is in the Hicks (below) so was most likely Hick'ssource rather than the West painting itself.

 

[glossman]

Raymond

You are exactly right. Hicks like Penn lived in what became known as Pennsylvania and was likewise a Quaker.
Hicks very likely based his "folk art" version of the subject on the famous painting by Benjamin West (below) which was also known via an engraving of 1775 (also below).
You will notice that the scene is reversed in the engraving as it is in the Hicks (below) so was most likely Hick'ssource rather than the West painting itself.

Randy,

Many thanks for the very interesting information. Your thread has encouraged me to read a bit about William Penn and Edward Hicks, both of whom were Quakers but lived in different time periods.

I am not sure if this is correct but the province was known as New Wales for a short period in the 1600s. Later, King Charles II decided to award recognition to Penn and the state of Pennsylvania was founded in 1680.

Raymond.