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AP Annapolis, Md. home contains famous Peale paintings

By Theresa Winslow

The (Annapolis) Capital

ANNAPOLIS, MD. (AP) — The Hammond-Harwood House suffers from a bit of an inferiority complex. No signer of the Declaration of Independence lived there, like William Paca of the nearby Paca House, and it is not part of the highly visible Historic Annapolis Foundation, which just opened a new resource center downtown.

“We’re not down on the water, and we’re not one of the signers’ homes,’’ said HHH curator Lisa Mason-Chaney. “So, it is hard to get out the word that we’re here.’’

HHH does gets some recognition for the special annual events it hosts, such as the Secret Garden Tour and Colonial Dog Show, and for its Anglo-Palladian architecture, but it is still undiscovered territory for many county residents and tourists.

What they’re missing is a museum with plenty of “a-peale’’ — as in a renowned collection of paintings by Charles Willson Peale and members of his family. Peale was born in Queen Anne’s County, but lived and painted in Annapolis for about 25 years before moving to Philadelphia.

“[They were] the most significant family of American portrait painters,’’ Mason-Chaney said.

In all, HHH is home to 17 Peales: ten by Charles, including a few that are original to the 1774 residence; five by his brother, James; one by his son, Rembrandt; and one by his nephew, Charles Peale Polk. The museum, which is run by an association of the same name, also has other notable Eighteenth Century artwork, and seeing the paintings is a great way to tour the house.

“It’s an absolute treasure,’’ said Mat Herban, an emeritus professor of art history at Ohio State University who now lives in Annapolis. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts. ... They’re very quiet, but they’re the ones that got the Peale paintings.’’

Herban, who has lectured locally on Charles Willson Peale, said the painter remains the most highly regarded of all the artists who bear his surname. Peale is chiefly famous for his paintings of George Washington, with whom he served in the Revolutionary Army, and other luminaries of the time. “He probably painted more of our founding fathers than anyone else,’’ Herban said.

The Hammond-Harwood House has one painting of Washington, but it is by Rembrandt Peale. (A Washington by Charles Willson Peale is at the Maryland State House.)

The portraits by Charles Willson Peale at the HHH include the Callahan family (John, Sarah and daughters Sally and Polly); Ann Proctor, a girl of 6 who is pictured with her doll; and a recent acquisition, William Goldsborough. The museum also has a copy of a Peale portrait of the home’s architect, William Buckland. The original is at Yale University.

Ann Proctor’s portrait is notable because it has been reproduced many times and because the doll in the painting still can be seen at the house, Mason-Chaney said. The doll is sitting in a high chair next to the portrait.

The museum also has the actual chair Goldsborough sat in for his portrait. “It adds a richness to the interpretation,’’ Mason-Chaney said.

The painting and chair were bequeathed to the HHH last year after the death of two sisters from Easton.

“I think [Charles Willson Peale] had a gift for capturing the essence of [a] person,’’ said Carolyn O’Leary, a member of the HHH board of trustees and executive vice president of Annapolis Bank and Trust. “[It] just gives you a window into what it’d have been like to know them.’’

Peale’s work was highly sought after and he was always very well-liked, Herban said. But Peale, who taught his many children to paint, was not just an artist.

Peale dabbled in science and was an inventor, making a device Thomas Jefferson used to create copies of his letters as he wrote them, Herban said. Peale also hunted for fossils, unearthing a mastodon; founded an arts society; and opened a museum in Philadelphia for art and natural history. He moved to Philadelphia from Annapolis in 1776, Mason-Chaney said. He died in 1827.

“What fascinates me is that he was a many-sided man,’’ said Carter Lively, Hammond-Harwood’s executive director. “He was just one of those [very] talented guys.’’

For information, 410-263-4683 or www.hammondharwoodhouse.org. Through March, the house is open for group and school tours by reservation only. It reopens for general admission on April 3.