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Joseph Harrison Jr. (September 20, 1810—March 27, 1874) was an American mechanical engineer, financier and art collector. He made a fortune building locomotives for Russia, and was decorated by
Czar Nicholas I , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...
for completing the Saint Petersburg-Moscow Railway.Joseph Harrison, Jr. papers (PDF)
from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Harrison made important innovations to locomotives and steam boilers, but may be best remembered for the art collection he amassed, that included "supreme icons of American art."


Life and career

He was the son of grocer Joseph Sr. and Mary Crawford Harrison, and grew up in the
Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
section of Philadelphia.Joseph Harrison, Jr.
from National Gallery of Art.
He had little formal schooling, and was apprenticed to a steam engine manufacturer at age 15.Coleman Sellers, "An Obituary Notice of Mr. Joseph Harrison, Jr." ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'', vol. 14, no. 94 (January - June, 1875), pp. 347-355. He worked as a journeyman in machinery firms in the late 1820s and early 1830s, and was hired as foreman of the Philadelphia locomotive firm Garrett & Eastwick in 1835. Early locomotives were propelled by a pair of driving wheels."Joseph Harrison, Jr., A Biographical Sketch," ''Cassier's Magazine, An Engineering Monthly'', vol. 37 (November 1909 - April 1910). Attempts to double their tractive power by adding a second pair of driving wheels were unsuccessful, because of uneven distribution of the load between the axles. Harrison invented the driving rod, first demonstrated in the 1837 locomotive ''Hercules'', which made twin pairs of driving wheels safe and effective. Based on the value he brought to the firm, partners Phillip C. Garrett and Andrew M. Eastwick granted Harrison a one-third stake in Garrett & Eastwick in 1837. Upon Garrett's 1839 retirement, the firm was renamed Eastwick & Harrison. Eastwick & Harrison sold the patent for his driving rod to
Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...
in 1843, and it became standard equipment in their locomotives.


Russia

Harrison designed the 1839 locomotive ''Gowan and Marx'' for the Reading Railroad. Weighing about 11 tons, it was the most powerful locomotive built to date, demonstrated by its drawing 101 fully-loaded coal cars the length of the Reading's road. This feat impressed Russian engineers who came to the United States in 1841 to research American locomotive manufacturers. Czar Nicholas had ordered the building of a railroad between
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, and the engineers were selecting companies to recommend for the project. In 1843, Harrison, Eastwick, and their new partner Baltimore engineer Thomas Winans, traveled to Russia and were awarded a five-year $3,000,000 contract to build rolling stock for the railway.Nicholas B. Wainwright, "Joseph Harrison Jr., A Forgotten Art Collector," ''The Magazine Antiques'', vol. 102, no. 4 (October 1972), pp. 660-668. The 162 locomotives and 2,500 freight cars were to be manufactured in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, and by Russian workers. The railroad engineer who surveyed and laid the of track for the
Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway The Saint Petersburg to Moscow railway (1855–1923 – ''Nikolaevskaya railway'') runs for through four oblasts: Leningrad, Novgorod, Tver and Moscow. It is a major traffic artery in the north-west region of Russia, operated by the October Rai ...
was Major George Washington Whistler, also an American. His son Jimmy, playmate of Harrison's eldest son, would become the painter
James Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...
. Following Major Whistler's April 1849 death from
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
, Harrison's contract was extended, and he took over Whistler's projects. "During the progress of this work, other orders, reaching to nearly two million dollars, were added to the original amount, including the completion of the great Cast Iron Bridge over the
River Neva The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it i ...
, at St. Petersburg, the largest and most costly structure of the kind in the world." At the November 12, 1850 opening ceremonies for the Neva railroad bridge, the Czar awarded Harrison a gold medal and other honors. Harrison and his wife and their growing family resided in Saint Petersburg from 1843 to 1850, then in Paris and London.


Return to Philadelphia

Harrison returned to Philadelphia in 1852 a wealthy man. He purchased half a city block—bounded by 17th, Locust, 18th, and Chancellor Streets—with of frontage facing Rittenhouse Square.''Atlas of the City of Philadelphia'' (Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley & Company, 1901), plate 2. Architect Samuel Sloan designed him a lavish mansion, inspired by Saint Petersburg's Pavlovsk Palace. Its principal floor featured a -wide drawingroom with three double windows overlooking the square. Also part of the project were ten luxurious rowhouses faced with stone (rental properties), that lined the north side of Locust Street and shared the rear garden with the mansion. These later housed Harrison's children and their families. Construction began in 1855 and was completed in 1857. Harrison also had Sloan design a Russian-styled dacha, or country house, in Northeast Philadelphia along the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
, between
Holmesburg Holmesburg began as a Village within Lower Dublin Township, Pennsylvania. It is now a neighborhood in the Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Holmesburg was named in Honor of Surveyor General of Pennsylvania Thomas Holme, who was a ca ...
and
Torresdale Torresdale, also formerly known as Torrisdale, is a neighborhood in the Northeast Philadelphia, Far Northeast section of Philadelphia. Torresdale is located along the Delaware River between Holmesburg and Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania, Bensalem ...
.Patty McCarthy, "Harrison's Folly," March 30, 2015 lecture, Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, Philadelphi

/ref> This was demolished in 1901 for construction of the Torresdale Water Treatment Plant. Harrison invested his money in real estate, developing blocks of rowhouses in North Philadelphia, and building attractions such as Handel & Haydn Hall (1856), a concert and lecture hall at 531-547 North 8th Street.


Harrison Steam Boiler

Harrison invented a new type of steam boiler, based upon the power of a hollow cast-iron sphere to withstand pressure.Joseph Harrison, Jr. "An Essay on the Steam Boiler," ''The Journal of the Franklin Institute'', Philadelphia, vol. 83, no. 3 (March 1867), pp. 161-177. Composed of 4-sphere units that could be replaced if any individual unit was damaged, his boilers were also readily expandable. "Early in his engineering life, Mr. Harrison's attention was directed to the means of improving steam generation, more particularly with a view of making this powerful agent less dangerous, and less liable to explosion. Mr. Harrison's first patent for the Harrison Boiler is dated October 4th, 1859, though improvements on the original idea have been the subject of several patents in this country and in Europe. At the International Exhibition, held in London in 1862, the highest class medal was awarded to this boiler, ''for originality of design and general merit''."
Mr. Harrison's boiler is chiefly of ''cast iron'', and is composed of many small and equal compartments. In other words, it is a combination of cast iron hollow spheres, each sphere eight inches in external diameter and three-eighths of an inch thick. This spherical form has peculiar geometrical and mechanical advantages; it is uniformly strained by internal pressure, and it is practically much stronger than a hollow cylinder of like diameter and thickness of shell. Hollow curved necks, three-and-a-quarter inches in internal diameter, make the communication between the spheres.
Four of the spheres are cast together, constituting what is called a "unit." A number of units are bolted together into a rectangular slab, and any desired number of these slabs forms the boiler, which can be increased to any extent by merely adding to its width. The slabs are placed vertically side by side, and are elevated to an angle of forty degrees at the furnace end, so as to give complete drainage at the lowest point of the slabs, and a most perfect circulation of the water in each. The water occupies he lowertwo-thirds of the slabs, while the remainder of the upper part serves as the steam space. … The feed water enters the lowest sphere in each slab, and the steam is taken off at the highest point. … The several slabs communicate laterally with each other at both their highest and lowest points. … It requires over 1,500 pounds pressure to the square inch to burst these spheres, and then the rupture is harmless o the rest of the units
The
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
awarded Harrison its 1871 Rumford Gold Medal for his safety improvements to steam boilers.


Personal

Harrison married Sarah Poulter of New York City on December 15, 1836, and they had seven children—William, Henry and Annie, born in Philadelphia; Alice, Marie and Theodore, born in Saint Petersburg; and Clara, born in Philadelphia following their return from Russia. In the midst of the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, Harrison chaired the Fine Arts Committee for the Great Central Fair of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. The June 7 to 28, 1864 exposition was organized to raise money for medicine and supplies for Union hospitals. Most of Philadelphia's
Logan Square Logan Square may refer to: * Logan Square, Chicago, a neighborhood on the north side of the city * Logan Circle (Philadelphia) or Logan Square, a park in Philadelphia **Logan Square, Philadelphia Logan Square is a neighborhood in Philadelphia. Bou ...
was covered by a temporary building, and Philadelphians lent paintings and sculptures from their private collections. "The picture gallery is nearly 500 feet long and is now hung with more than 1,000 of the finest pictures in the country. … thas never been equalled in modern works anywhere not even in Europe. … The Fine Arts gallery is a separate exhibition at .25 cts admission. Our rects eceiptshave been since the opening nearly $1,500 per day."Harrison Letter Books, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, quoted in Wainwright, pp. 660-661.
President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
and his family attended on June 16. Over its three weeks, the fair raised more than $1,000,000. Harrison served as one of the ten original members of the
Fairmount Park Commission Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...
, and advocated for building an art museum atop
Lemon Hill Lemon Hill is a Federal-style mansion in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, built from 1799 to 1800 by Philadelphia merchant Henry Pratt. The house is named after the citrus fruits that Pratt cultivated on the property in the early 19th century. ...
(the hill behind Boathouse Row). "If we as a nation are to keep pace with the civilization and refinement of the older states of the Christian world, we too, must have our free Art Galleries and Museums, owned by, enjoyed by, and cared for by the people." In the 1920s, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
was built atop an adjacent hill, Fairmount. He served as a Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for fifteen years, and donated $10,000 toward construction of its 1876 building. Following five years of a debilitating illness, Harrison died in Philadelphia, on March 27, 1874. He left an Estate valued at up to nine million dollars. Many of the most important American works in his art collection came to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1878, and more came following Sarah Poulton Harrison's death, on July 21, 1906. The
bookplate An ''Ex Libris'' (from ''ex-librīs'', ), also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. ...
Harrison used for his library may give a clue to his personal philosophy. It featured a crane with outstretched wings, and a Latin quote from
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
about authenticity. " Esse quam videri" translates roughly as "Be, rather than seem."


Franklin

Harrison's personal hero was
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, another inventor and self-made man, and the art collector purchased multiple portraits of the Founding Father. On January 29, 1774, Franklin attempted to present a petition to the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
demanding that the Massachusetts governor and lieutenant governor be replaced. Private correspondence had leaked in which those officials discussed suspending civil liberties in the colony. Instead of a reasonable negotiation, Franklin was met with a vicious diatribe by
M.P. A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
Alexander Wedderburn, ridiculing him and attacking his character. Franklin stoically withstood the insults for more than an hour, until Wedderburn announced that he was ready to cross-examine the witness. Franklin declared that he chose not to be cross-examined, and walked out.Charles Greifenstein, "How Alexander Wedderburn Cost England America," January 9, 201

from The American Philosophical Society.
This deliberate humiliation was a major turning point in Franklin's life, convincing him that reconciliation between America and England was impossible. Harrison commissioned artist
Christian Schussele Christian Schussele (born 16 April 1824 in Guebwiller, Alsace – 20 August 1879 in Merchantville, New Jersey) was an American artist and teacher, and is credited with designing the American Medal of Honor. He studied under Adolphe Yvon and Paul ...
to paint ''Benjamin Franklin Appearing before the Privy Council'' (1857, Huntington Library and Museum). Franklin co-founded the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1743, to which Harrison was elected in 1864. The Franklin Institute was founded in his memory in 1824, to promote the sharing of scientific and technological knowledge. Harrison presented two illustrated lectures at the institute: ''An Essay on the Steam Boiler'' (January 16, 1867); and ''The Locomotive Engine, and Philadelphia's Share in Its Early Improvements'' (February 21, 1872). Both lectures were published in ''The Journal of the Franklin Institute''.


Art collection

Harrison's first major art purchases were the original ''Vaugh Portrait of George Washington'' (1795),
Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...
's first life portrait of the President, and a ''Portrait of Benjamin Franklin'' (1782) by
Joseph Wright Joseph Wright may refer to: *Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797), English painter *Joseph Wright (American painter) (1756–1793), American portraitist *Joseph Wright (fl. 1837/1845), whose company, Messrs. Joseph Wright and Sons, became the Metro ...
, after a 1778 portrait by Joseph Duplessis. Following a months-long negotiation, Harrison purchased these in England from the estate of William Vaugh in 1851. That same year, the estate of
Granville Penn Granville Penn (9 December 1761 – 28 September 1844) was a great-grandson of Admiral Sir William Penn, a British author, and scriptural geologist. Biography He was born 9 December 1761 in Spring Gardens, London, the second surviving son of Th ...
(great-grandson of William Penn) put Benjamin West's ''Penn's Treaty with the Indians'' (c.1772) up for auction at Sotheby's, London, where Harrison bought it for £500 ($2,175). His agent in these purchases was the American painter
George Catlin George Catlin (July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American adventurer, lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the Old West. Traveling to the We ...
, whose Indian Gallery in London was close to bankruptcy. Catlin was a lawyer-turned-painter, who studied art privately in Philadelphia.Stephen May, "George Catlin and His Indian Gallery," ''Antiques and the Arts Weekly'', November 12, 2002. In 1830, he accompanied Superintendent of Indian Affairs William Clark on a diplomatic mission through the upper Mississippi, painting oil sketches of Indian life and portraits. When he returned to St. Louis, Catlin developed these sketches into finished paintings.''George Catlin and His Indian Gallery''
from Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Catlin made five additional trips over the next eight years, visiting more than fifty tribes. Beginning in 1838, he toured the eastern and central U.S., exhibiting his Indian Gallery and giving lectures. Catlin moved to Great Britain, and exhibited his Indian Gallery in London from 1839 to 1844, in Paris from 1844 to 1848, and again in London from 1848 to 1852. In 1846, he made his first attempt to get the U.S. Government to purchase the collection for the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, but Congress was hostile to the idea. Catlin wound up deeper and deeper in debt, and in 1852, Harrison loaned him $40,000 to keep him out of bankruptcy. Harrison held the collection as collateral, and had more than 500 paintings and about 100 native artifacts shipped to Philadelphia and stored in a warehouse. Catlin was never able to repay the loan, and in 1879, following the deaths of both men, Harrison's widow donated the Indian Gallery to the Smithsonian. Harrison purchased more than twenty portraits and historical paintings at the 1854 auction of the contents of Philadelphia's
Peale Museum The Peale, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is Baltimore's Community Museum. Its mission is to evolve the role of museums in society by providing local creators and storytellers with the space and support the need to realize a complete and accessi ...
(and at bargain prices). These included a 1787 life portrait of George Washington ($55), and a 1785 life portrait of Benjamin Franklin, both by Charles Willson Peale; Peale's 1795 ''Staircase Group'', a double portrait of his sons Raphaelle and Titian ($175); and ''The Artist in His Museum'', Peale's 1822 self-portrait standing on the second floor of Independence Hall ($175). Harrison purchased a "porthole" portrait of George Washington by Rembrandt Peale, along with that artist's portraits of Jean-Antoine Houdon ($10) and
Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...
($10). Among his non-Peale Family purchases were three naval battle scenes of the War of 1812 by Thomas Birch. In 1859, Benjamin West's monumental ''Christ Rejected'' (1814) – by – was offered to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for $4,000. Harrison was a member of PAFA's board of directors and advocated for its purchase, but the Board had recently purchased West's ''Death on a Pale Horse'', and voted to decline the offer. Harrison tracked down the painting, and bought it for the same price. Too large for his mansion, he hung it in Handel & Haydn Hall (and left it to PAFA). Harrison owned John Vanderlyn's sensuous nude, ''Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos'' (c.1812), which had been praised in Paris, but was controversial in America. Among his contemporary works were British painter
Frederick Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical antiqui ...
's ''Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets'' (1855), and French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau's ''Orestes Pursued by the Furies'' (1862), the latter, one of the last paintings he purchased. Harrison's art collection exceeded 400 paintings and sculptures (excluding the Indian Gallery), and he privately published an 1870 catalogue. He had written earlier about feeling a "sense of duty" to create a permanent collection for his native city.


Auctions

The remainder of Harrison's art collection was auctioned in Philadelphia over two sales: a three-day sale, February 23, 24 & 25, 1910; and a final sale two years later, March 12, 1912George Washington (Vaughn portrait)
from National Gallery of Art.
(postponed from February 26, because of weather). The 1912 sale featured the most important paintings and sculptures, and ended with a surprise."Famous Portrait Sold for $16,100 / Stuart's Painting of Washington Bought by Thomas B. Clarke, of New York." ''The Philadelphia Record'', March 13, 1912. The star attraction of the 1912 sale was
Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...
's 1795 ''Vaughn portrait of George Washington''. Philadelphia had served as the temporary national capital during the 1790s, and in November 1794 Stuart wrote to his uncle of his upcoming arrival: "The object of my journey is only to secure a picture of the President, & finish yours." Stuart was introduced to President Washington in December 1794, but had to wait until the following September for a sitting. According to Rembrandt Peale, the President granted a single joint sitting to Stuart and him "in the Autumn of 1795."George Champlin Mason, ''The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1894). John Vaughn was a British-born Philadelphia businessman, one of at least thirty-two subscribers who had ordered portraits of Washington from Stuart. Vaughn's order had been for two portraits; he kept Stuart's first copy for himself, and shipped the original to England as a gift to his father. Stuart was not wholly satisfied with the Vaughn portrait, but still painted between twelve and sixteen copies.Ellen Gross Miles, "George Washington (The Lansdowne Portrait)," in ''Gilbert Stuart'' (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004), pp. 166–90. "The Stuart painting was characterized by Rembrandt Peale as the best portrait of Washington ever made." In the 56-lot auction, the Vaughn portrait was Lot #30.''Paintings, Statuary, etc. / The Remainder of the Collection of the Late Joseph Harrison, Jr. / and belonging to the Estate of Mrs. Sarah Harrison, Deceased'' (The Philadelphia Art Galleries, 1912). "Bidding was started, at $1,000, by Percy Sabin, a New York dealer, and leaped upward in $1,000 bounds. Sabin dropped out after $10,000 had been offered, but other dealers forced the price $6,000 higher. Mr. Clarke met every rise with another, apparently determined to gain possession of the noted canvas at any cost. When he finally was successful, rival bidders loudly applauded, and scores of persons crowded around him to offer congratulations."
Thomas B. Clarke Thomas Benedict Clarke (December 11, 1848 – January 18, 1931) was an art collector from New York City. Biography He was born December 11, 1848, in New York City as the son of Dr. George Washington Clarke (1816–1908), headmaster of the Mount ...
was a New York art dealer who assembled a distinguished collection of American historical paintings. His bid of $16,100, set a record for an American painting at auction. Clarke and his heirs owned the ''Vaughn Portrait'' until 1936, when his Estate sold it to Andrew Mellon, for the National Gallery of Art. The 1912 auction surprise:
Immediately after the celbrated painting had been knocked down, William E. Elliott, one of the executors of the estate of Mrs. Sarah Harrison, stopped the sale with the announcement that sufficient money had been realized to fulfill the bequests of Mrs. Harrison's will, and that the remainder of the collection will be presented to the ennsylvaniaAcademy of the Fine Arts. Among the noted pictures thus saved to Philadelphia are two other portraits of Washington, by Rembrandt Peale and Charles W. Peale, and one of Franklin by Charles Peale.


The Iron Worker

Perhaps the painting most personal to Harrison was ''The Iron Worker and King Solomon'' (1863). It was based on a rabbinical legend about dedication day of
King Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...
. The King has invited the artisans who have built and decorated the Temple to sit with him—the architect, the surveyor, the chief carpenter, the chief mason, etc. As the King and the richly-dressed artisans approach the throne, they encounter a bare-chested iron worker. When each artisan angrily demands that the iron worker leave, he quietly asks, "Who made the tools that made your work possible?" The King listens as each artisan answers, "The iron worker." When all have answered, King Solomon agrees that the iron worker has made a major contribution to the Temple, and invites him to sit at his right hand. In late 1860, Harrison commissioned
Christian Schussele Christian Schussele (born 16 April 1824 in Guebwiller, Alsace – 20 August 1879 in Merchantville, New Jersey) was an American artist and teacher, and is credited with designing the American Medal of Honor. He studied under Adolphe Yvon and Paul ...
to paint a major work based on the legend. Harrison and his family spend the next three years in London, and the painting was completed in early 1863. The Harrisons returned to Philadelphia that autumn, and took possession of it. He hired artist
John Sartain John Sartain (October 24, 1808 – October 25, 1897) was an English-born American artist who pioneered mezzotint engraving in the United States. Biography John Sartain was born in London, England. He learned line engraving, and produced several o ...
to create an oversized engraving of the painting, which greatly popularized the legend. Harrison was never a Mason (although Sartain was), and the engraving (and legend) became strongly associated with American
Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
. The painting inspired Harrison to write an extended poem (of the same title), and to invite others to write about the legend. He gathered these in a privately printed book, along with memoirs of his years spent in Russia, and gave copies to his children and grandchildren at Christmas 1867.Joseph Harrison Jr., ''The Ironworker and King Solomon'' (privately printed, 1867

/ref> The lesson he hoped to instill in his family members was respect for the craftsman — "the value of what is but too frequently thought to be very humble labor." Art historian Sue Himelick Nutty, wrote her dissertation about Harrison and his art collection.Carolyn Sue Himelick Nutty, ''Joseph Harrison, Jr. (1810-1874): Philadelphia Art Collector'', (PhD diss., University of Delaware, 1993). She calls him "the leading Philadelphia art collector from the 1850s until his death at sixty-three in 1874." Her conclusion about the painting? "It is an allegorical portrait of Harrison: ''Harrison'' is the Iron Worker."


Artworks formerly in the Harrison Collection

File:Benjamin Franklin with bust of Isaac Newton by David Martin.JPG, David Martin, ''Benjamin Franklin with a Bust of Isaac Newton'' (1767), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:Franklin by Joseph Wright 1782 obj 612 702 lrg.jpg, Joseph Wright, ''Benjamin Franklin'' (after Joseph Duplessis), (1782), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:Peale - Benjamin Franklin.jpg, Charles Willson Peale, ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1785), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:George Washington 1787 by Charles Willson Peale PAFA 1912 14 3 l.jpg, Charles Willson Peale, ''George Washington'' (1787), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:Charles Willson Peale 001.jpg, Charles Willson Peale, ''The Staircase Group'' (1795), Philadelphia Museum of Art File:Benjamin West - The Fatal Wounding of Sir Philip Sidney.jpg, Benjamin West, ''The Fatal Wounding of Sir Philip Sidney'' (1806), Woodmere Art Museum File:John Vanderlyn 001.jpg, John Vanderlyn, ''Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos'' (1812), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:BirchBattleBetweenTheUnitedStatesAndTheMacedonian.jpg, Thomas Birch, ''Engagement between The United States and The Macedonian'' (1813), Philadelphia History Museum File:Thomas Birch - Engagement Between the "Constitution" and the "Guerrière".jpg, Thomas Birch, ''Engagement between The Constitution and The Guerrière'' (1813), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston File:William Henry Harrison by Rembrandt Peale.jpg, Rembrandt Peale, ''William Henry Harrison'' (1813), National Portrait Gallery File:Benjamin West - Christ rejected.jpg, Benjamin West, ''Christ Rejected'' (1814), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:The Wasp and the Frolic, by Thomas Birch.JPG, Thomas Birch, ''Engagement between The Wasp and The Frolic'' (1820), Philadelphia Museum of Art File:Portrait of George Washington - NARA 192421.jpg, Thomas Sully (after Gilbert Stuart), ''George Washington'' (1820), Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum File:C W Peale - The Artist in His Museum.jpg, Charles Willson Peale, ''The Artist in His Museum'' (1822), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:'George Washington, Patriae Pater' by Rembrandt Peale, c. 1824.JPG, Rembrandt Peale, ''George Washington, Patriae Pater'' (1824), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:The Clove, Catskills, by Thomas Cole, c. 1826, oil on canvas - New Britain Museum of American Art - DSC09301.JPG, Thomas Cole, ''The Clove, Catskill Mountains'' (1827), New Britain Museum of American Art File:Sully Child & Dog 1828 PAFA1842 3 l.jpg, Thomas Sully, ''Child and Dog'' (1828), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:George Catlin - Buffalo Bulls Back Fat - Smithsonian.jpg, George Catlin, ''Buffalo Bulls Back Fat'' (1832), Smithsonian American Art Museum File:'Frances Anne Kemble as Beatrice' by Thomas Sully.JPG, Thomas Sully, ''Frances Anne Kemble as Beatrice'' (1833), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:Frances Anne Kemble as Bianca 1833 PAFA1843 1 2 l.jpg, Thomas Sully, ''Frances Anne Kemble as Bianca'' (copy by Sully after his 1833 original), The White House File:Theodor Hildebrandt - The Murder of the Sons of Edward IV - Google Art Project.jpg, Theodor Hildebrandt, ''Murder of the Sons of Edward IV'' (1835), Museum Kunstpalast, Germany File:John Quidor - Rip Van Winkle and His Companions at the Inn Door of Nicholas Vedder - 48.469 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg, John Quidor, ''Rip Van Winkle at the Village Tavern'' (1839), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston File:Johann Geyer Columbus and the Egg.jpg, Johann Geyer, ''Columbus and the Egg'' (1847), Woodmere Art Museum File:George Catlin - War Dance, Sioux - 1985.66.457B - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg, George Catlin, ''War Dance, Sioux'' (1848) Smithsonian American Art Museum File:The-spirit-of-war.jpg, Jasper Francis Cropsey, ''The Spirit of War'' (1851), National Gallery of Art File:Jasper Francis Cropsey The Spirit of Peace.jpg, Jasper Francis Cropsey, ''The Spirit of Peace'' (1851), Woodmere Art Museum File:Patrick Henry Rothermel.jpg, Peter F. Rothermel, ''Patrick Henry before the Virginia House of Burgesses'' (1851), Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation File:Frederick Leighton - The Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets over the Dead Bodies of Romeo and Juliet.jpg, Frederick Leighton, ''Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets'' (1855), private collection File:Thomas Buchanan Read Jephthah’s Daughter.jpg, Thomas Buchanan Read, ''Jephthah’s Daughter'' (1858), Woodmere Art Museum File:'The King and the Beggar' by Peter Frederick Rothermel, Dayton Art Institute.JPG, Peter F. Rothermel, ''King Lear, Gloster and Edgar'' (1858), Dayton Art Institute File:Thomas Buchanan Read - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - NPG.2017.20 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg, Thomas Buchanan Read, ''Henry Wadsworth Longfellow'' (1858), National Portrait Gallery File:Thomas Buchanan Read - Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) - H617 - Harvard Art Museums.jpg, Thomas Buchanan Read, ''Oliver Wendell Holmes'' (1859), Harvard Art Museums File:Thomas Sully G-000871-20111012.jpg, Rembrandt Peale, ''Thomas Sully'' (1859), National Gallery of Art File:Joseph Harrison, Jr. by Thomas Buchanan Read 1860 PAFA.jpg, Thomas Buchanan Read, ''Joseph Harrison, Jr.'' (1860), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1862) - Google Art Project.jpg, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, ''Orestes Pursued by the Furies'' (1862), Chrysler Museum of Art File:Joseph Mozier - 'Pocahontas', 1864, High Museum.JPG, Joseph Mozier, ''Pocahontas'' (1864), High Museum of Art File:Samuel Bell Waugh - Ulysses S. Grant - NPG.65.26 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg, Samuel Bell Waugh, ''Ulysses S. Grant'' (1869), National Portrait Gallery File:Final Assault upon Fort Fisher, North Carolina (1872-3) by Xanthus Smith.jpg, Xanthus Smith, ''Final Assault upon Fort Fisher, North Carolina'' (1872-1873), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:Bengt Nordenberg - En riven get.jpg, Bengt Nordenberg, (year), ''The Twins''


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Joseph Jr. Businesspeople from Philadelphia 1810 births 1874 deaths Locomotive builders and designers 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American inventors American art collectors