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14
Thomas Birch
(American, born England, 1779–1851)
Sleigh Ride on a Gray Day, 1832
Oil on canvas, 18 x 27 1 /4 inches
Signed and dated at lower left: “Tho Birch/1832”
Provenance: Mrs. Frederica F. Emert; Mrs. J. Watson Webb; the Shelburne
Museum, Shelburne, Vt.; (Christie’s, New York, May 30, 1986); Schwarz Gallery by
1992; Pennsylvania private collection until 2003
This is the earliest extant “snow piece” by Thomas Birch to which a secure date can be attached. Although Birch painted
winter scenes as early as 1811, none of his early snow pieces have been located. 1 Birch exhibited several sleighing pictures
between 1832 and 1842, 2 including at least thirteen examples based upon a format similar to that seen in this canvas. 3 This
painting may, in fact, have been the canvas exhibited at the Artists’ Fund Society in Philadelphia in 1834 as Snow Piece,
Sleighing Party &c; it may also have been exhibited there in 1835 as Winter Scene. Another artist identified simply as “W.”
(possibly Joshua Shaw [1776–1860]) composed the following poem about the 1835 exhibition in which Birch’s snow scene
figures prominently:
Have you been to the Artists’ Exhibit?
If not, you should go with all expedition.
If you love the fine arts, you will find things there,
That are worth your notice, both rich and rare,
Pictures by masters, old and new,
Deserving an oft repeated view.
Here’s a snow scene of Birch’s so charming, so bold,
So true to all nature, it makes you feel cold. 4
Birch adapted his composition and subject from the work of Dutch artists such as Jan van Goyen (1596–1656), Salomon
van Ruysdael (1602–1670), and Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. 1525/30–1569). Birch knew compositions by these artists
through prints and likely had seen paintings of winter scenes at the homes of collectors such as Edward L. Carey or Joseph
Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon. Birch’s father, the famed artist William Birch (1755–1834), wrote in his manuscript
autobiography that he owned Jan van Goyen’s Winter Scene, which showed figures skating. 5 Thomas Birch’s decision to paint
winter scenes may also have been influenced by the popularity of sleighing and skating in Philadelphia. Francis Baily, an
English traveler, wrote with some surprise of the American mania for sleighing in Journal of a Tour in the Unsettled Parts of
North America in 1796 and 1797:
The amusement of which they seem most passionately fond is that of riding on the snow in what you
would call a sledge, drawn by two horses. It is astonishing to see how anxiously persons of all ages and both
sexes look out for a good fall of snow, that they may enjoy their favorite amusement; and when the happy
time comes, to see how eager they are to engage every sleigh that is to be had . . . . Whilst snow is on the
ground no other carriages are made use of, either for pleasure or service. 6
John Wesley Jarvis (1780–1840), writing to Birch in 1804, echoed Baily’s sentiments. “Sleighing,” he told his friend, “had
been so good here until today that there has been little else done.” 7