John William Gear and Joseph Gear drawings and prints
Overview
Theatrically related drawings, lithographs and engravings, by English-born, American artist, John William Gear. Some also possibly by his father, artist Joseph Gear.
Dates
- Creation: 1817-1865
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
3 linear feet (6 boxes)Primarily theatrically-related drawings in watercolor, graphite, and ink, but also includes lithographs and engravings. Most images are by John William Gear, but some are possibly by his father, Joseph Gear. Materials have not been identified as to which Gear was the creator of which items, and it is likely that most of the images were created while John William Gear was still in England. The great majority of images are portraits of theatrical audience members (especially miniature heads), but there also are portraits of actors and actresses, landscapes, and stage scenes. There is a large group of portraits of the actor Edmund Kean, and portraits sketched at many London theaters including Drury Lane Theatre and Covent Garden Theatre. The collection also contains a few letters to the Gears, and provenance correspondence, lists, and notes.
Some items have autograph manuscript notes on the mats by Richard B. Holman, the rare print dealer in Boston who eventually came into possession of this collection and sold it to Harvard.
Biographical / Historical
John William Gear (1806-1866) was an English-born portraitist, miniaturist, watercolor painter, and lithographer, who specialized in theatrical portraits. His greatest work was the publishing of a set of impressions of theater audiences, Portraits of the Public being Heads of Audiences, .... This work was to be published a few at a time in pamphlet form, but only number one ever appeared. He exhibited in London, 1821-1852, and came to Boston ca. 1852 and set-up a business for cleaning and restoring paintings. Although he exhibited his work at the Boston Athenaeum in 1855, he sank into poverty and in 1866 he committed suicide at his father's grave (Joseph Gear) in Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Joseph Gear (1768-1853) was a marine painter, engraver, caricaturist, and a musician. He immigrated to the United States in 1824?, later moved to Boston, and exhibited at the Boston Athenaeum, 1829-1837. He was said to be a "double bassist employed at Drury Lane Theatre, London, and Tremont St. Theatre, Boston, Mass." John William Gear was his son.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Head portraits without titles
- II. Head portraits with titles
- III. Portraits of Edmund Kean
- IV. Images with titles
- V. Images including other materials
- VI. Provenance letters and notes
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Provenance:
Drawings appear to have been handed down from Isaac Moorhouse (executor to J. W. Gear) to his daughter (Mrs. Fick) who discovered these drawings in her home. It was ca. 1933 when the drawings came into the possession of Richard B. Holman of Holman’s Print Shop. See series VI. below for additional information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Purchase from Richard B. Holman, Holman's Print Shop, 5A Park Street, Boston; received: 1940.
No accession number. Gift of Marion Hannah Winter; received: 1940 December 13.
No accession number. Gift of Herbert G. Porter, 20 Arlington Street, Malden, Massachusetts; received: 1944 January 20.
No accession number. Gift of Emmons Douglass, c/o American Hardware Mutual Insurance, 15 Deerfield Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215; received: 1968 October 28.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Gear, J. W. (John William), 1806-1866. John William Gear and Joseph Gear drawings and prints, 1817-1865: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02126
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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