Unpublished, ca. 1800-1810. Oil on paper (25.34 x 18.0 cm).

This unique image of the Niagara Falls from below is reminiscent of the 1810 View of the Great Pitch from Below, engraved by George Cooke after a sketch by A. Wilson (see Dow). However, this view is made even more dramatic by showing a long overhanging ledge, with some tiny figures - apparently a family with a child - on top. More tiny people are standing below the cliff, close to the torrent, emphasizing the magnificence of the falls. In this, the present painting is much closer to Frederick Christian Lewis's (1804) A View of the West Branch, of the Falls of Niagara: Taken from the Table Rock, Looking up the River, over the Rapids, which shows two, similar ledges (one was known as Table Rock - it collapsed partly in 1818, and entirely in 1850). Lewis made his aquatint after an original sketch by John Vanderlyn. The British artist Frederick Christian Lewis (1779-1856) is known as the etcher of a work titled E tchings of the Scenery of the Rivers of England and Wales (1845-1847, cf. Wikipedia). Signed in red in the lower right margin. Near-illegible, but in our opinion "Lewis". A few scratches, and other, small imperfections at the lower edge; small piece missing in the top right corner, otherwise in very good condition. A unique item. Dow, C. M. (1921) Anthology and Bibliography of Niagara Falls.