Administrative Information

Access

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Publication Rights/ Restrictions on Use

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Librarian/ Associate Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, and the holder of the copyright, if not the Rockefeller Library at Colonial Williamsburg.

Preferred Citation

Frank Sewall Sketches, Manuscript MS 96.40, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Acquisition Information

Purchase, 1996.

Biographical/Historical Information

It is believed that the artist was Frank Sewall (1837-1915), best known as a Swedenborgian clergyman. After graduating from Bowdoin College in 1858, he traveled in Italy and was recognized for his great appreciation of the arts. Sewall held a pastorate in Washington, DC from 1889-1915. The sketches date from this period, with several signed examples also thought to be by his daughters.

Scope and Content Information

These sketches document the appearance of several eighteenth-century buildings in Williamsburg prior to their restoration in the 1930s. They consist of one framed sketch and a sketchbook featuring scenes of Williamsburg and the James River drawn by Frank Sewall between 1891 and 1892. The sketchbook is titled: "Williamsburg, Va. The Potomac, the James, and the Canal, 1891." It includes pen, pencil, and watercolor sketches of interior and exterior views of Bruton Parish Church, the Courthouse and Market Square, the Wren building, and various unidentified houses, as well as views of boats along the James and Potomac rivers. The framed sketch is a view of the tower and steeple of Bruton Parish Church.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Bruton Parish Church (Williamsburg, Va.)-- In art.
• Wren Building (Williamsburg, Va.)--In art.

Geographical Names:

• James River (Va.)--In art.
• Potomac River--In art.
• Williamsburg (Va.)--In art.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Sketches--Virginia--1891.