South Carolina - Rice Hope Plantation from One of the Rice Fields

c 1796. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Detail of Settee on a Hill at Rice Hope Plantation from One of the Rice Fields. South Carolina. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Read had been a Surgeon in the Continental Line during the Revolution. The name Rice Hope was one of the many such hopeful combinations; there were also a Silk Hope, a Salt Hope amp; a Brick Hope near the Cooper River.

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.