Charleston Loan Exhibition

50 Bible Society invitation to Nathaniel Russell , (American, 1738–1820) Charleston, SC, 1819 Ink on paper, H. 3 fi/* x W. 6 inches Signed and inscribed by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (American, 1746–1825) Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC, collection purchase, 97.1.4 Founded in 1810, the Charleston Bible Society was established to put Bibles in hands of as many individuals as possible, enslaved as well as free. 1 Although many southerners expressed concern that Bible societies encouraged slaves to read the scriptures—or worse that they promoted the abolitionist cause—some Charleston planters with large enslaved populations supported the society. In 1822, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825) served as its president. The Russells were prominent among the city’s civic leaders and philanthropists. They were also devout in their faith. Nathaniel Russell (1738–1820) served as treasurer of the Charleston Bible Society and bequeathed $500 to the society in his will. KS, BSC 1. For an in-depth discussion of the role of Bible societies, including the Charleston Bible Society, and the slavery question, see Lacy K. Ford, Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South (New York: Oxford University, 2009). Jean Berger (working, ca. 1718–1732) Copy book Boston, MA, ca. 1718–1732 Watercolor on paper in leather binding, H. 5¾ x W. 5¼ x D. ½ (at spine) inches Written on frontispiece in ink: SES/JEAN BERGER/ QUI A FAIT/SES/ OUVRAGE DECE/ LIVRECTA/ BASTON CE/ MDCCXVIII/ DIEU/ EST MOE/ DROY Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC, gift of Mrs. Henry M. Abbot, 92.5.1 Originally a tool of the trade and testament to John Berger’s intimate knowledge of baroque decorative vocabulary, this extremely rare design book descended in the Berger family, becoming a precious heirloom and genealogical record. Berger was a French Huguenot émigré who worked in Boston at the corner of Pond and Short streets. Described in period documentation as a “French painter,” he was more specifically a painter- stainer—meaning he decorated buildings, carriages, furnishings and ships with a variety of ornamental painting techniques, including graining, gilding, japanning, marbleizing and varnishing. 1 The design book identifies Berger as one of Boston’s earliest jappaners. Berger’s chinoiserie drawings depict Asian figures, pagodas, birds and fantastical beasts within exotic landscapes. It appears that these designs were original or copied from an unidentified source. On other pages, Berger drew French “arabesque style” renderings with satyrs and putti and decorative borders with scrolling acanthus—all retaining their brilliant hand-painting of red and ochre. Berger included genealogical notes in his design book, and as the object descended in the Berger family, its owners augmented the information. Opposite Berger’s own signature-page, the final descendant, who donated this rare document to Historic Charleston Foundation, recorded the intermarriage of the Berger and Dehon families in the nineteenth century. Theodore Dehon (1776-1817), bishop of South Carolina, married Sarah Russell, daughter of Nathaniel Russell, and the book then descended in the Russell-Dehon family. BSC 1. For more information, see Robert A. Leath “Jean Berger’s Design Book: Huguenot Tradesmen and the Dissemination of French Baroque Style ,” American Furniture (Chipstone Foundation, 1994), 137–161.