Lot 175: Maria Howard Weeden Original Watercolor Artist’s Book, A Serenade (from Ben-Hur)

Maria Howard Weeden (Alabama, 1846-1905) original watercolor or inkwash and pencil artist’s book on two sheets of bifolded card entitled “A Serenade,” with the handwritten text of the poem “Tirzah’s Song” from Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST plus four accompanying grisaille watercolor or inkwash illustrations, including cover. Cover with crescent moon vignette, title, attribution to BEN-HUR, and text that reads “Illustrated by / Howard Weeden.” Second illustration, after cover, depicts a small sailboat on an expansive sea at night, with the full moon partially obscured by clouds above and one line from the poem’s first verse written below. Third illustration depicts a male child asleep on a crescent moon, with one line from the poem’s second below. Fourth illustration depicts a shining five-pointed star accompanied by smaller, pinpoint stars and text below that reads “Good Night” (not included in Wallace’s poem). Book also includes two pages of calligraphic text (the full poem) written in pencil. Bound with ribbon laced through two holes at left of each page. Book rests under glass on a giltwood support and within a shadowbox giltwood frame. Book: 6 7/8 in H x 9 3/16 in. W. Framed: 13 3/4 in. H x 15 5/8 in. W. Late 19th or early 20th century. Biographical Note: Maria Howard Weeden was born in 1847 in Huntsville, Alabama, the youngest of six siblings. She showed artistic talent at an early age and was encouraged by her mother, who took her to study with William Frye, a well-known Southern portrait painter living in Huntsville at the time. She also studied art at the Huntsville Female Seminary. However, the Weeden family was financially ruined in the wake of the Civil War, and she was unable to pursue more formal training or visit places like Europe to find subject matter. As Martha Severens writes in “150 Years of Watercolor,” “Her sitters were generally members of her community who were former slaves serving as cooks, nannies, and gardeners. At a time when many artists were caricaturing African Americans, Weeden preferred to render more dignified and uplifting portraits. After visiting the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where she encountered many caustic images of the Uncle Remus variety, she resolved to pursue a different direction. She later recalled: ‘Then and there I awoke to the realization that right around me was a subject of supremest artistic interest, the old ex-slave, who henceforth became theme for my muse and model for my brush.” ” It is said that a combination of her nearsightedness and using brushes with only 3 hairs for painting allowed her to capture delicate details. Weeden did not use her first name on her works, preferring to sign them “Howard Weeden”. Her childhood home in Huntsville is now the Weeden House Museum and contains many of her works. Most of her subjects never commissioned these portraits, so she never found great commercial success. She also published four books of poetry with accompanying illustrations.

PROVENANCE: Living Estate of Paula Brown; Purchased from Robert M. Hicklin, Jr. Inc. Spartanburg, SC, 1989. 

CONDITION: Overall very good condition. With old numerical pencil inscription erased from upper-right of cover, likely price. Two larger illustrations with text captions with staining from pencil text on previously pages.