Van Bergen Overmantel

N0366.1954

This painting of the Marten Van Bergen farm in Leeds, New York, conveys more visual information about Dutch life in America than any other surviving object of the period. It is the only contemporary representation of a colonial period Dutch farm and among the earliest representations of the American landscape, as it includes a panoramic view of the Catskill Mountains in the distance. Besides the house, a Dutch barn, two Dutch hay barracks, a blacksmith shop, and the gable of a second house are illustrated. The people depicted include the Van Bergen family, indentured servants, slaves, and two Esopus Indians. Most Dutch farms were primarily devoted to such cash crops as wheat and peas. The farm animals seen here-horses, cows, sheep, and chickens-supplied the needs of the family, servants, and slaves. John Heaten was an Englishman who married a Dutch woman and painted portraits in the Upper Hudson Valley in the 1730s and 1740s.

depth 2.5 in ; height 16.25 in ; weight 25 oz ; width 88.75 in