Painting

Title:

The Old Brick School House, Seabrook, N.H.

Object Name:

Painting

Object ID:

1903.006.02

Creator:

Perkins, Caroline Augusta (1834-1919)Artist

Place of Origin:

Seabrook, NH

Date:

circa 1902

Description:

Landscape painting, The Old Brick School House, Seabrook, N.H., by Caroline Augusta Perkins (1834-1919), c. 1902. Oil paint on academy board. Painting of brick school-house, which stood in Seabrook Village from 1818 to 1888. School house is situated on a slight rise of land with outcroppings of rock. A one-story, gable-roofed building in center, having a cupola surmounted by a weathervane above the gable end at right; four windows on long side; a chimney at left end, and a doorway in a wooden extension. An arched window in gable end below cupola. A small outbuilding and Lombardy poplar visible beyond right end of main structure. A road (or roads) extending across scene in foreground and curving into distance at right. A fence extending from left end of building to edge of scene, with a tree in field beyond. Woods in background. Paper label on the reverse: "The Old Brick School House. / Seabrook, N.H. / Painted by Miss C.A. Perkins. 1902 / From C.C. Lord, Hopkinton, July 3, 1903". Unframed.

Material:

Academy board

Dimensions:

H-5.35 W-8.4 inches

Provenance:

From 1818 to 1888, this brick building served as the schoolhouse for Seabrook Village. It was one of the earliest and most elaborate of a number of brick district schools built in the seacoast region in the early 1800s.

Caroline Augusta Perkins supported herself by working as a librarian and school teacher, two jobs thought to be appropriate for women. She probably made extra money by selling some of her paintings, many of which document historic buildings in Seabrook.

Credit Line:

Gift of Charles C. Lord

People:

Perkins, Caroline Augusta (1834-1919), Lord, Charles Chase (1841-1911)

Subjects:

School buildings, Landscape paintings, Librarians, Teachers, Schools