Trumbull, John:

$12,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

[AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT, SIGNED WITH INITIALS, IN WHICH JOHN TRUMBULL AGREES TO USE HIS PAINTING, "THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE," AS COLLATERAL FOR A ... A remarkable document written by American artist John Trumbull, utilizing his original painting, "The Declaration of Independence," as collateral to secure a loan from the Bank of New York. This document, addressed to Charles Wilkes as the cashier of the Bank of New York, reads in part:"Now therefore, being desirous to Secure him as far as is in my power against loss by the uncertainty of Life & prosperity, I do hereby hypothecate & pledge to him the sd. Charles Wilkes the Senate painting of the declaration of Independence now in the hands of Mr. [Asher Brown] Durand the Engraver and also the Copper plate which He is engraving from the Same as collateral Security for any Sum which he may hazard by any accident befalling me. And this pledge shall remain in full force until all and every Note or Notes which He may have endorsed for me shall be paid & Cancelled."Trumbull is referring to his original painting of this famous event, which was begun in Paris at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson. Trumbull was later commissioned by the Congress to paint a twelve-by-eighteen-foot version based on this original. The larger painting was sold to Congress in 1819, so it is almost certainly the original smaller version that remained in Trumbull's possession (now at Yale University Art Gallery) that was being used as collateral for a loan.H

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