Jean Baptiste Casmiere Breschard
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Jean Baptiste Casmiere Breschard (John B. Breschard) was a
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
owner and equestrian performer in the
Circus of Pepin and Breschard The equestrian theatre company of Pépin and Breschard, American Victor Pépin and Frenchman Jean Baptiste Casmiere Breschard, arrived in the United States of America from Madrid, Spain (where they had performed during the 1805 and 1806 seasons), ...
. Along with his partner, Victor Pepin he had been managing a circus in Madrid, Spain.Olympians of the Sawdust Circle
/ref> Pepin and Breschard were encouraged by the Spanish consul to Philadelphia, Don Luis de Onis, to relocate to the United States and build amphitheaters there, in the manner of
John Bill Ricketts John Bill Ricketts (1769–1802) was an English equestrian who brought the first modern circus to the United States. Biography Ricketts began his theatrical career with the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, in London, in the 178 ...
, who had previously run a circus amphitheater on Broad Street in Philadelphia. Pepin and Breschard traveled to America in 1807, and performed in Boston and New York before opening in Philadelphia on 2 February 1809. According to the book "America's Longest Run: A History of the Walnut Street Theatre" by Andrew Davis, Breschard specialized in what is called "Roman Standing" riding – balancing on the back of two horses. He also doubled as the comedian of the troupe. Charles Durang, in his history "Philadelphia Stage", stated that "Breschard was a model of a performer. He looked like a genteel comedian attired for a polished drawing-room. He was truly a picture, when dressed in his superb Spanish-lace uniform, white cassimere small-clothes, silk stockings, neat pumps and gold shoe buckles, going through his exercise on two horses." Mme. Breschard, wife of Jean Baptiste, was a premier equestrienne and is described in numerous sources as being one of the early businesswomen in the United States. Mme. Breschard is arguably the first nationally recognized professional sportswoman in the United States. Both are documented as performing in the United States between 1807 and 1817. Breschard is reported as performing in
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
;
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
,
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
; and
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
in 1820. Breschard was a native of France, but his exact place and date of birth and death are unknown.


Gilbert Stuart portrait

In 1878 a portrait by
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 ...
was identified by
George Washington Riggs George Washington Riggs (July 4, 1813 – August 24, 1881) was an American businessman and banker. He was known as "The President's Banker." He was a trustee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Peabody Education Fund. Early life Riggs was ...
, (also known as ''"The President's Banker"''), a trustee of the
Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...
in Washington, D.C., as "Breschard, the Circus Rider", and as "Breschard" the painting was displayed at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
in 1880. The portrait currently resides at the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
in Washington, D.C., but is now identified by the NGA as being
John Bill Ricketts John Bill Ricketts (1769–1802) was an English equestrian who brought the first modern circus to the United States. Biography Ricketts began his theatrical career with the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, in London, in the 178 ...
, another circus performer. Stuart and Ricketts did not sail from Dublin to Philadelphia together as some have claimed. Owing to Stuart's aversion to being cooped up for weeks with a circus, he booked passage on another ship, the ''
Draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...
'', even though its destination was a different American port. Peter Grain, a former member of the Circus of Pépin and Breschard, is cited in the NGA provenance for this painting as being the owner in the mid-19th century. After Grain, the portrait was owned by picture dealer Henry Barlow, who sold it to Riggs sometime before 1867. In that year, Henry T. Tuckerman's ''Book of the Artists: American Artist Life Comprising Biographical and Critical Sketches of American Arts'' listed the painting, sitter unidentified, as being in Riggs' collection. In 1944 it was displayed at the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the s ...
, Richmond, as "William Rickhart", and by 1947 the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
had changed the identification to "John Bill Ricketts".


Breschard and Haiti

In 1819, Jean Baptiste Breschard was invited to perform for the 17th Anniversary of the Haitian Independence. On the night of 1 December 1819, while performing for the president of Haiti (
Jean-Pierre Boyer Jean-Pierre Boyer (15 February 1776 – 9 July 1850) was one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution, and President of Haiti from 1818 to 1843. He reunited the north and south of the country into the Republic of Haiti in 1820 and also annexed ...
)and the Haitian people at the Cirque Olympique, a fire broke out during his performance and ended the event that night. Breschard left Haiti on 22 January 1820 after a month performing for the Haitian people for the 17th the Anniversary of the Haitian Independence.
L'Abeille Haytienne, 31 November 1819. Retrieved 12 October 2017


References


External links


The Circus in America: 1793-1940


Further reading

* Breschard, Peter, ''Circus Rider''. Okemos, MI: Galldubh Press, 2010. * Baia, Alex "''I Thought I Would Have Accomplished a Lot More Today and Also by the Time I Was Thirty-Five''

The New Yorker, 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Breschard, Jean Baptiste Casmiere American clowns American male equestrians Circus owners American circus performers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown