Name/Title
Original artwork, 14 drawings by Sigismond Schuster including 4 of Hoboken scenes; pencil on paper, various places, ca.1850s, not later than 1857.Entry/Object ID
2008.012.0080Scope and Content
Original artwork, fourteen, by Sigismond Schuster including four Hoboken scenes; pencil on paper, various places, circa 1850s, not later than 1857. Cream wove paper with rough tooth, no watermark, circa 6-8 point caliper; simple pamphlet binding. Fourteen pages, 6-1/2" high x 8" wide, most with graphite drawings. The only place ink is evident is a minor mark on drawing 32 at the top left. Remains of binding thread and tissue guard are with item.
This original artwork was apparently part of a larger group of pages (there are stubs where there once were leaves), but the item has a certain integrity as found. Sigismond Schuster (1807? - ) was a German born artist (drawing and painting) who is known to have published two instructional works for students. He was known to have been a drawing instructor in the New York City school system from about 1860 to circa 1865, possibly later. Little else is known about him.
Some of the drawings here are known to have been first published in: Systematic Drawing Cards for Schools, with Instructions: In Two Parts. By Sigismond Schuster, Professor, 494 Broadway. New York: Ivison, Phinney & Co., 178 Fulton St., 1857. See reference image and notes for a citation of a Huntington Library holding. (There were later printings or editions and another listed address for Schuster at 782 Broadway.)
He signed only drawings 18 and 28. The four images related to Hoboken are followed by another group of what are stated or apparent European scenes plus flora.
Images are listed as collated although the numbers on the drawings place place out of numerical order:
(18). Cricket Grounds Near Hoboken. Captioned by artist and was signed at the lower right but is now smudged and mostly illegible [Schuster's name is legible on drawing 28.] Depicts a building at the St. Georges Cricket Grounds with a clothesline with clothes, a barrel and a lawn roller at the left. (note that the image of this leaf records the original pamplet style binding thread along with the irregularly trimmed edge.) Drawing 21 is the verso of this leaf.
(21). Sybils [Sybil's] cave on the Hudson. Captioned by the artist, but not signed. Shows the exterior Gothic architectural portal, another fence and dooway; table with a glass and a bench surrounding a tree or pole with a glass and a pitcher.
(19). Restaurant near Sybils [Sybil's] Cave. Captioned by the artist, but unsigned. Depicts the exterior of a building that would have been on River Walk. This drawing includes a drawn frame for the image. Verso of this leaf is blank. (This image is published in the work cited above and it was number 19 there, but it did not have the border frame.)
(20). Indian Huts near Hoboken. Captioned by the artist, but not signed. Depicts two tents along with a section of fencing, some other planked wood constructions plus a clothesline. (note in the scanned image of this leaf the remains of a tissue guard that was originally bound in.) Verso of this leaf is blank.
No. 2 package No. (28). A Town "Among the Alps." Captioned by the artist and signed at lower right: S. Schuster. Verso of this leaf is blank. (The reference, "No. 2 package," is apparently to Part 2 of the published work which was issued in two parts.)
31. City of Troy. Captioned by the artist in cursive hand, but unsigned. Verso of this leaf is drawing 30.
30. [untitled small flora]. Unsigned. (This work was in the published work and was also no. 30 there.)
(29). [untitled small flora]. Unsigned.
Note that this drawing is the start of the only folio in this item which includes drawings numbered 29, 33, 32, 34 numbered in that sequence. 33 (which does appear in the published work under the same number) and 32 are untitled and are similar to City of Troy drawing. 34 is numbered but blank except for the name James Kennedy written in pencil in a hand that is probably not the artist's.
Also note in the image of the folio spread of 33 and 32 there is seen the remains of tipped-in tissue guard in the gutter.Acquisition
Accession
2008.012Source or Donor
Lukacs, ClaireAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Museum Collections. Gift of a friend of the Museum.Archive Details
Date(s) of Creation
1850 - 1857Archive Notes
Date(s) Created: 1850-1857
Date(s): 1850-1857General Notes
Note
Notes: Citation below for Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery holding (with two photographic images - attached to this record as a small reference image) of a published edition of these drawings as found March 2012 at:
http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p9539coll1/id/7113/rec/13
Title Systematic Drawing Cards for Schools, with Instructions: In Two Parts
Artist/Author Schuster, Sigismond
Publisher Ivison & Phinney
Date 1857
Physical Description various
Description
Two sets of drawing cards entitled Systematic Drawing Cards for Schools, with Instructions: In Two Parts, by Sigismond Schuster, published by Ivison & Phinney, 1857. Env. 04 contains the first part in a green-patterned wrapper labeled "Drawing Cards for Schools & Families" and subtitled "Part I. Nos. 1 to 24." The instructions and the cards for both Parts I and II were printed on yellow paper. Cards were divided into "books" of seven cards each, according to the instructions, for teaching principals of drawing. Part I featured 24 cards comprising the first three books plus half of book four--only card No. 24 is missing from Part I. It is unclear how many cards were in Part II--located in Env. 5, present are a total of 16 single-sided cards--the cards begin with "25" and end with "47." Within that number run, 25 to 47, cards 36, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, and 46, are missing. One card has a partial number which appears to be "35". If the instructions are followed there should be a total of 42 cards--six books described, seven cards to a book. The higher number may reflect a change in methodology or added practice cards. In any case, the cards reflect different levels of skill, from simple forms to complex landscapes. The landscapes are scenes from Hoboken, New Jersey. Some of the images are signed "S. Schuster" usually in the lower left hand corner. "Natalie J. B[??]ment" is written in ms., in ink, on the cover. "$7 6.5" and "PCQ" are written in ms., in pencil, on the cover.
Local Subject Description
Drawing Cards: Schuster's
Physical Collection Diana Korzenik Collection of Art Education Ephemera
Physical Series Instructional Materials
Digital Collection Prints and Ephemera, Huntington Digital Library
Department Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Rare Books Dept. Prints and Ephemera.
Digitization Specifications hi res
Date Digitized 2002-6-22
Status: OK
Status By: dw
Status Date: 2008-05-06
![drawing 30 (recto is 31): [untitled flora]](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/11047/763b2500-fa62-11ed-a641-b3912f9925a9-wx0aEEU.lg-nt@2x.jpg)
![drawing 29 (verso is 33): [untitled flora]](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/11047/776c7910-fa62-11ed-a641-b3912f9925a9-wx0aEEU.lg-nt@2x.jpg)
![drawings 33, 32: [untitled - 33 steps + cross; 32 rocks + pond]](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/11047/789da610-fa62-11ed-a641-b3912f9925a9-wx0aEEU.lg-nt@2x.jpg)
