Sunday, August 18, 2019

South Carolina - Fishpond at the Shaded Entrance to Ashley Hall near Charleston

Charles Fraser (1782-1860) The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina.

Entrance to Ashley Hall near Charleston, South Carolina. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. The 2nd Royal Governor William Bull inherited Ashley Hall in 1755. A medical doctor, he never wavered in his loyalty to his King. He left with the British in 1782, dying in London 9 years later. His will states: “I William Bull the late Governour of South Carolina for his Britanic Majestiy do …my worldly goods greatly deranged & lessened in value not by my Fault but by some unexpected contingencies I have met from peculiar situations wherein I have been placed during the late unhappy times in America…my plantation on Ashley River in Carolina where my Grandfather lived died & lies buried where my Father & all his children were born I wish to remain in the possession of one of his Posterity I therefore give to my nephew William his heirs…”

The watercolors of Charles Fraser allow us feel the South Carolina landscape around us as we learn how it was being groomed & planted. Thanks to South Carolina native Fraser, we have a chance to see, through his eyes, the homes & gardens there as he was growing up. Although he was primarily known his miniature portraits, he also created watercolors of historical sites, homes, & landscapes. He painted while working as a lawyer, historian, writer, & politician. Today, many of Fraser's works are displayed at the Carolina Art Association & the Gibbes Art Gallery in Charleston.