Berger Copy Book
Berger, fronticepiece
Name/Title
Berger Copy BookEntry/Object ID
92.5.1Description
Jean Berger (working, ca. 1718-1732) Copy book Boston, MA ca. 1718-1732 Watercolor on paper in leather binding Written on frontispiece in ink: SES/JEAN BERGER/ QUI A FAIT/SES/OUVRAGE DECE/ LIVRECTA/ BASTON CE/ MDCCXVIII/ DIEU/ EST MOE/ DROY Jean Berger (working, ca. 1718-1732) Copy book Boston, MA, ca. 1718-1732 Watercolor on paper in leather binding, H. 5 3/4 x W. 5 1/4 x D. 1/2 (at spine) inches Written on frontispiece in ink: SES/JEAN BERGER/ QUI A FAIT/SES/OUVRAGE DECE/ LIVRECTA/ BASTON CE/ MDCCXVIII/ DIEU/ EST MOE/ DROY Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC, gift of Mrs. Henry M. Abbot, 92.5.1 Originally a tool of the trade and testament to John Berger's intimate knowledge of baroque decorative vocabulary, this extremely rare design book descended in the Berger family, becoming a precious heirloom and genealogical record. Berger was a French Huguenot émigré who worked in Boston at the corner of Pond and Short streets. Described in period documentation as a "French painter," he was more specifically a painter-stainer-meaning he decorated buildings, carriages, furnishings and ships with a variety of ornamental painting techniques, including graining, gilding, japanning, marbleizing and varnishing. The design book identifies Berger as one of Boston's earliest jappaners. Berger's chinoiserie drawings depict Asian figures, pagodas, birds and fantastical beasts within exotic landscapes. It appears that these designs were original or copied from an unidentified source. On other pages, Berger drew French "arabesque style" renderings with satyrs and putti and decorative borders with scrolling acanthus-all retaining their brilliant hand-painting of red and ochre. Berger included genealogical notes in his design book, and as the object descended in the Berger family, its owners augmented the information. Opposite Berger's own signature-page, the final descendant, who donated this rare document to Historic Charleston Foundation, recorded the intermarriage of the Berger and Dehon families in the nineteenth century. Theodore Dehon (1776-1817), bishop of South Carolina, married Sarah Russell, daughter of Nathaniel Russell, and the book then descended in the Russell-Dehon family. BSC Berger Copy Book Copybook Belonging To Jean Berger, a Huguenot Immigrant To Boston, C.1718. Manuscript Is Eighteen Leaves, Quarto, Boutnd in Contemporary Full Paneled Calf. Title Within Architectural Border in Pen and Ink, Consisting of 13 Pen and Ink and Watercolor Ornamental Drawings and Four Leaves of Dehon Family Geneological Notes Written By Berger and His Descendents. Berger Is Described in the Files of Suffolk Country Supreme Judicial Court As the "French Painter." He Was Involved with House, Ship and Decorative Painting of Furniture, Especially Japanning in Imitation of Oriental Lacquer. Resided At the Corner of Pond and Short Streets As of 1725. There Is No Other Known American Example of This Type. Reproduced in Its Entirety in the 1992 Chipstone Journal.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation CollectionAcquisition
Accession
92.5.Source or Donor
Abbot, Mrs. HenryAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Mrs. Henry M. AbbotMade/Created
Artist
Berger, JeanDate made
1718 - 1728Place
City
BostonLocation
MassachusettsCountry
United States of AmericaLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
BookNomenclature Sub-Class
Other DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Height
5-1/2 inWidth
5 inDimension Notes
[height]5.5" __[length] __[width]5" __[depth] __[diameter] __[size] __[other]Location
Location
Building
NR STORAGEMoved By
RedDate
July 14, 1998Notes
Until: / /Location
Building
NR 303 C3Category
PermanentLocation
Building
NR 303/Blanket Chest/BoxCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Publications
Notes
1992 Chipstone Journal "Jean Berger's Designbook: Huguenot Tradesmen and the Dissemination of the French Baroque Style.Exhibitions
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