My latest painting, titled "Antoine James de Marigny"

My latest painting is titled "Antoine James de Marigny" 11 x 14 Available.

My latest painting is titled "Antoine James de Marigny". It is apart of a ongoing series of painting of "Creoles in doorways" it depicts the son of famous Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville and Anna Mathilde Morales. Antoine James de Marigny is in his French officer’s uniform. He is standing in his parents lavishly furnished Marigny plantation house at the foot of Elysian Fields Avenue, named after the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The room has gray and white marble floors, The baseboards are painted to look like Egyptian gold vein marble. A eagle Card table by Deming and Bulkley, New York City, ca. 1825. Rosewood. 

A Duncan Phyfe & Son Restoration style armchair. A Regency Part-ebonized giltwood octagonal convex mirror circa 1810. And a portrait of Lafayette as a lieutenant general, in 1791.by Joseph-Désiré Court. Antoine James de Marigny was a planter, merchant, military officer, and U.S. Marshal for eastern Louisiana. As a young man, he attended the Academy of St. Cyr and the Royal Cavalry School at Saumur in the 1830s in France, before serving two to three years as a lieutenant in the French Cavalry. In New Orleans, he married Sophronie Louise Claiborne. Daughter of William C. C. Claiborne, the first Governor of Louisiana after statehood. The couple had three or four daughters. 11 x 14 Available.

My latest painting, titled "Two sisters visiting"

"Two sisters visiting" in a collection in Winterthur, Delaware. 

This morning I finished my latest painting and by lunch it was sold to one of my collectors of art that owns over 10 of my paintings. It is titled "Two sisters visiting" It shows two Creole bourgeoisie sisters visiting in a Creole interior of the 1830's period. They are dressed in the latest fashion from Paris of the 1830's. The 1830's was a booming period in New Orleans history. Lots of money was being made. Most of the money made had something to do with slavery. 

In the painting next to the Creole mantel we see a enslaved woman sewing. Although many city slaves were skilled workers, most were domestic servants. They cared for their masters' homes, families, gardens, and animals, shopped and sewed for the household, and ran numerous errands. The number and appearance of one's servants indicated the urban resident's wealth and social standing. Thus, many prominent whites and free blacks in New Orleans and Baton Rouge outfitted their domestics in great finery when making public appearances. 

The bourgeoisie Creole interior includes a mix of Classical fancy goods and furniture available in New Orleans during this period.  After the 1803 Louisiana purchase Creole interiors included more furnishings and decorative arts from the East Coast of America with trade, like the 1830's New York city couch by Duncan Phyfe. One of the sisters sits in a French Restoration gilt wood swan chair. The decorative arts in the room include a American classical carved gilt wood mirror over the couch. On the mantel a pair of bronze English Regency Argand Lamps. A pair of French Old Paris porcelain NeoClassical vases and a American East Coast Lighthouse Clock.

The 1830's French print source for my painting. 

Over the mantel a ancestral portrait painted in the French NeoClassical style. During this period wealthy Creoles had  wall-to-wall floorcovering. The carpet looms of this period produced narrow width strips, usually 27” wide that were then hand-sewn together, laid upon the floor and tacked down. Costly carpets like the classical one in the painting were usually only placed down during the winter months and taken up and stored during the Summer months, replaced with cooler straw mats. During the 1830's a few prominent French Artist traveled from France to New Orleans to paint portraits of the local Creoles. Over the enslaved woman is a Charles X gilt wood baromètre.  A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather.  

Servant of the Douglas Family c. 1850

Individual portraits of domestic servants, like this one of a Douglas family servant, are extremely rare.

Gift of the Douglas Family

Dwarfing in population the other cities in the antebellum South, New Orleans had the largest slave market in the domestic slave trade, which expanded after the United States' ending of the international trade in 1808. Two-thirds of the more than one million slaves brought to the Deep South arrived via the forced migration of the domestic slave trade. The money generated by the sale of slaves in the Upper South has been estimated at 15 percent of the value of the staple crop economy.

I'm working in a 1830's Creole cottage in the French Quarter helping with antiques. This Creole mantel is the source for the one I used in my painting. 

1830's New York city couch by Duncan Phyfe.

American classical carved gilt wood mirror

The slaves represented half a billion dollars in property. An ancillary economy grew up around the trade in slaves—for transportation, housing and clothing, fees, etc., estimated at 13.5 percent of the price per person. All of this amounted to tens of billions of dollars (2005 dollars, adjusted for inflation) during the antebellum period, with New Orleans as a prime beneficiary. Antebellum New Orleans was the commercial heart of the Deep South, with cotton comprising fully half of the estimated $156,000,000 (in 1857 dollars) exports, followed by tobacco and sugar. 

French Old Paris porcelain NeoClassical vase

 American East Coast Federal style Lighthouse Clock

Over half of all the cotton grown in the U.S. passed through the port of New Orleans (1.4 million bales), fully three times more than at the second-leading port of Mobile, Alabama. During the 1830's A great deal of architecture was built in the French Quarter and other homes were remodeled during this period. Being that New Orleans was owned by many, including the French, Spanish and now America, "Creole society coalesced as Islanders, West Africans, slaves, free people of color and indentured servants poured into the city along with a mix of French and Spanish aristocrats, merchants, farmers, soldiers, freed prisoners and nuns". The society of New Orleans was unlike any other from its mix of inhabitants including Africans, the French, Spanish, Caribbeans, Germans, Irish Sicilians etc. The five decades preceding the Civil War are referred to as “the golden years” of New Orleans or “flush times,” “the glamour period” and “la belle epoch”. 

bronze English Regency Argand Lamp

New Orleans was referred to as a place for prosperity.  At this time, New Orleans had already won the title of being a Primate City where business was booming.  It lacked in manufacturing businesses but had many commercial businesses in the area and “was pulsating with commerce, business, change, and expansion”.  After the first bank opened in 1805, four more decided to open in 1827. 

View of recently installed brown and gold bedroom room at Millford. In the foreground is an original French bedstead by Duncan Phyfe & Son and one of the four original marble-topped basin stands. In the back left corner is one of the original cheval glasses made for Millford. The June 2, 1841 bill of lading for furniture sent to Millford by Duncan Phyfe & Son includes two “swing glasses,” named as such because the large looking glass frame “swings” or pivots between the two columns that flank it. This handsome mahogany cheval glass is the recent gift of Marika and Thomas Smith. 

Inspiration for the period wall to wall carpet in my painting 

The city was one of the richest, most dazzling of all places full of Parisian couture, society, fancy restaurants and shops that imported luxury goods for the new found wealth.  Royal Street became the main commercial artery while Bourbon Street was a place for the Creole elite and their fine residences. In the 18th century Bourbon street was named after the French Royal family. Because of this it was the most fashionable address to live on in New Orleans.

Charles X gilt wood baromètre.

1830's French Neoclassical oil portrait of a gentleman in it's original Louis Philippe gilt wood frame. 

Southern cotton was becoming heavy in trade that a new type of transportation needed to become available to transport the bulky materials.  Steamboats became the main source of transportation of materials by 1823.  There was an astronomical amount of 50 steamboats that aided in the commerce of the city.

Hundreds of gas streetlights were put onto the streets along with the first sycamore trees that were planted in Congo Square.  The population of New Orleans doubled in the 1830’s and by the 1840’s the population was approximately 350,000, almost half of which were Creoles of color or slaves, making it the fourth largest city in the United States at the time.  If they had kept with these increases in population, New Orleans would have easily become the second largest city in America. 

"Two sisters visiting" in a collection in Winterthur, Delaware. 

If you would like to  check out more of my art you can go to my website here.

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My latest painting titled "Cast iron gallery Belle"

My latest painting titled "Cast iron gallery Belle", Available. 

This morning I completed my latest painting titled "Cast iron gallery Belle". This painting was started in Dec of 2010 when I was living in Baltimore, Maryland. I was confident I would complete the painting at that time that I dated it. Finally 6 years latter It was completed this morning May 25th 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This painting was a part of about 40 unfinished canvases I have started over the years, that are in various stages of unfinishedness. 

The painting Shows a Southern Belle holding a fan in blue dress standing on a ornate cast iron gallery.  On the gallery is a terracotta potted orange tree. A open guillotine window shows a cut crystal gasolier chandelier in a upstairs room. The building is salmon colored stucco walls. A French Quarter balcony can be small or stretch the length of the building. You see most the balconies in the French Quarter of New Orleans. You will also see a number of cast iron galleries. A Gallery is generally wider than a balcony as it is supported to the ground by posts or columns often the width of a sidewalk.   

Ironwork is so associated with Old New Orleans that it may come as a surprise to some that wrought iron (worked by hand) and later cast iron are Victorian additions and not original to the oldest French Colonial masonry townhouses. Balconies and porches were bounded by tall wooden columns. Decorative ironwork, derived from Spanish architecture, mimicked another famous Spanish product: lace, and offered an ornate visual contrast to otherwise sober, handsome fronts. Wrought iron was popular in New Orleans during the Spanish colonial period 1760's to 1803. Hand made wrought iron was still used after 1803 when New Orleans became American up until the mid 19th century. During the mid 19th century the more ornate cast iron work is often floral or leafy, adorned with French fleur-de-lis and coquilles, or shells (associated with Saint Jacques and religious pilgrims), also abound.

New Orleans Creole Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba use of visually appealing lacy decorative cast iron railings on buildings she was building on Jackson square between 1848-1850, set the style for balconies throughout the French Quarter on older and new buildings. Famously, the railings on the Baroness buildings feature the intertwined letters “A” and “P” signifying the two families, Almonester and Pontalba, who were so responsible for the architectural  face New Orleans presents to the world.

A cut crystal gasolier chandelier can be seen thru the guillotine window.

The architecture of the building is Italianate in style. 

Italianate style Features, Balanced, symmetrical rectangular shape. all, narrow, double-paned  Arch-headed windows with hood moldings, brackets and cornices. Balconies with wrought-iron railings, or Renaissance balustrading, Carved decorative keystones. 

My latest painting titled "Cast iron gallery Belle", Available. 

If you would like to follow the progression of my artwork and these paintings please visit and like my facebook page 

Here

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The Chamber of a Free man of color

"The Chamber of a Free man of color". Acrylic on canvas 16 x 12, Available.

My latest masterpiece is titled "The Chamber of a Free man of color". The inspiration for this painting came from a wonderful late 18th century miniature on ivery of a Free man of color from Saint-Domingue, now present day Haiti. The other inspiration for the painting is from a late 18th century Louisiana bedroom chamber of a free woman of color.  The painting shows a well appointed circa 1790's bedroom chamber of a wealthy Louisiana free man of color. The focal point of the painting shows a 18th century Free man of color gentleman fashionably dressed in burgundy jacket, silk embroidered vest and gray satin breeches with buckled shoes. 

late 18th century miniature on ivery of a Free man of color from Saint-Domingue, now present day Haiti. Note the wonderful gray painted carved Boiserie Paneling behind the gentleman. From the: Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien.

Miniatures of Toussaint Louverture & his family, Isaac Louverture, Placide Louverture &  Claire Joséphine de Lacaze.From the: Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien

Late 18th century New Orleans collage painting, showing a dark skin Creole Free woman of color with her mix race Free man of color gentleman friend. Note the elegant furnishings and bed covered in French Toile de Jouy fabric. 

 Not all creole of color were mix race as some people believe. Creole come in all colors and hues. Under Spanish rule (1763-1803) in Louisiana a new law called coartación, which allowed slaves to buy their freedom, and that of others help to add to Louisiana's population of Free Creoles of color. The free people of color of Louisiana were on average exceptionally literate, with a significant number of them owning businesses, properties, and even slaves.

A late cream painted Neoclassical French Louis XVI style bedstead hung and draped in striped fabric.

He is standing in front of a French Louis XVI style bedstead hung and draped in striped fabric. Overhead is a hanging Glass Bell Jar Lantern. He is standing next to a mohangay Creole cabriole leg table holding a blue and white porcelain veilleuse. Also known as a nightlight teapot. These were used in the 18th to mid 19th c. A candle in the bottom kept tea warm & acted as a nightlight. Apparently it became popular when Napoleon (who didn't like to sleep in the dark) used them in his tent. 

A Late-18th century Louisiana turned mulberry Slat-Back Side Chair with rush seat.

A mohangay Creole cabriole leg table.

Also on the table is a tea cup, silver spoon and brass Louis XV style candlestick. To the left of the gentleman is a Late-18th century Louisiana turned mulberry Slat-Back Side Chair with rush seat. Imported French furniture from Europe include the circa 1755 French ormolu-mounted Japanese lacquer secretaire-à-abattant to the right of the bed.

Circa 1755 French ormolu-mounted Japanese lacquer secretaire-à-abattant.

Lacquered objects are among the most highly treasured works of Asian art. Multiple, complex layers of lacquer are used to decorate the surfaces of screens, boxes, dishes, cabinets and small objects imparting a distinctive appearance that is also pleasantly tactile. With a history of production in Japan and China dating back to 5000 BCE, lacquerware began to be exported to Europe in the mid-16th century, where such objects were desired due to their uniqueness and great beauty. In the 17th century, European craftsmen began integrating panels removed from Asian lacquered screens into new pieces of furniture like the secretaire-à-abattant.

A framed portrait of a young slave in republican suit of the French Revolution. 

Hanging over the secretaire-à-abattant is a framed portrait of a young slave in republican suit of the French Revolution. This is a portrait of a young black servant wearing a silver necklace of servitude, a three-colored (French) dress, and a hat with the republican cockade. By voting for the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August 1789, the National Assembly proclaimed: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” However, the question of slavery and the slave trade was little discussed in the debates and slavery in French colonies remained a cruel reality. It was not until the law of 16th Pluviôse the year II (on February 4, 1794) that the Republic granted full freedom to its former slaves.Even before 1789 critics had attacked the slave trade and slavery in the colonies.

France had several colonies in the Caribbean, the most important of which was Saint Domingue (later called Haiti). There were 500,000 slaves there in 1789 and they provided the labor for sugar, coffee, and cotton plantations. The behavior of slaves and the actions of slave owners in the colonies was regulated by a series of royal edicts, called the Code Noir, or slave code. The National Convention (the more radical assembly of the Jacobins that replace the Legislative Assembly in France) finally voted to end slavery in all the French colonies on February 4, 1794. Thousands of whites fled the island, and even the Mulattoes were not pleased. Many owned slaves themselves and were opposed to the move.

A giltwood Louis XVI mirror. 

a giltwood Louis XVI carved marble top console. 

 A Dutch Delft tobacco jar.

To the left of the bad is a late 18th century Neoclassical giltwood Louis XVI carved marble top console with Louis XVI style mirror. On the console is a Dutch Delft tobacco jar. 16 x 12.

"The Chamber of a Free man of color". Acrylic on canvas 16 x 12, Available.

If you would like to follow the progression of my artwork and these paintings please visit and like my facebook page 

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The château de Hopkins in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina

This photo was used as a Birthday invitation for my birthday of Aug 2th 2003. Posed in the front parlor of my house on Marais street. 

From 2000 to 2003 I restored a late 19th century New Orleans shotgun double outside of the French Quarter. This post shows the front two rooms of one side of the house. Both rooms were used as parlors. The front room a more formal parlor and the 2th room a more casual parlor, painted with a 1830's inspired mural by myself. Shortly after these photo's were taking the house was sold and I move back to the French Quarter until Hurricane Katrina came along. I enjoyed restoring this home and furnishing it with antiques and decorating it. 

A New Orleans made rosewood Napoleon lll sofa use in the front parlor.  

The front parlor with a mix of New Orleans made Victorian and Restoration chairs 

New Orleans made French style Restoration period chairs covered in French 1830's Louis Philippe Lyon silk. 

1830's New Orleans made side chairs. 

Some of my collection of portraits. In the middle over the mantel, a 18th century French pastel. A pair of oil portraits of a husband and wife. Under the portraits 18th and 19th century miniatures. 

The circa 1805 French Empire ormolu clock on the front mantel. 

A 1850's oil portrait of a gentleman with a 18th century French pastel under the oil portrait. A pair of New Orleans 1830's chairs. 

The front wall in between the front door and window 

The 2th parlor had a wall mural I painted to look like 1830's French hand-blocked panoramic wallpaper. Titled Monuments of the Mississippi river. The mural shows elegant stately buildings along the Mississippi river starting from New Orleans French Quarter to Natchez Mississippi with plantation homes in between, along with the people from the period. French Creoles, slaves, Free people of color and Indians.

Natchez on the bluff being worked on and 1840's French Boulle and ormolu clock in the Moorish style Old Paris porcelain and makeup Shields

On the mantel a French Louis Philippe 1840's tortoiseshell and ormolu boulle clock in the Moorish style. 

Natchez on the bluff being worked on and 1840's French Boulle and ormolu clock in the Moorish style Old Paris porcelain Empire vases and figurines and 1840's makeup Shields.

New Orleans & Place d'Armes

Indians at play over a 1830's Louisiana walnut drop leaf table with Old Paris porcelain punch bowl and Rococo Revival vases. 

Louisiana plantations, Free woman of color and pegioners brick octagonal building for pigeons. 

Over-mantel hung with 1840's portrait of a Creole woman

Detail of the 1840's portrait. 

Windy Hill Manor was constructed in the 1790's by Benijah Osmun. in the center with Concord plantation visible to the left, residence of the first Spanish Governor, Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, who built the house in 1794. On the mantel a collection of Old Paris porcelain.

Detail of the 1830's figuren of a Highland Hunter purchased in France. 

The dance of Free woman of color with Louisiana plantations in background

New Orleans & Place d'Armes

Louisiana plantations, Free woman of color and pegioners brick octagonal building for pigeons. With rosewood Rococo Revival chairs with original upholstery attributed to Alexander Roux from a South Carolina plantation. A early 19th century Primitive Louisiana Cypress tapered leg table with Old Paris porcelain vase in the Rococo Revival style.

Louisiana plantations, Free woman of color and pegioners brick octagonal building for pigeons. With rosewood Rococo Revival chairs with original upholstery attributed to Alexander Roux from a South Carolina plantation. Primitive Louisiana Cypress tapered leg table with Paris porcelain vase.

This was the shotgun double I bought and restored between 2000-2003 in New Orleans!