A Rare and Important Large-Scale Drawing of the “Onward , Locomotive Engine”, made by Hinkley & Williams (Boston)

SOLD
Signed and dated: Alban Andren, 1869.

Pen, ink, watercolor, applied gilt and on mounted photograph on paper.

Oak Frame.

Condition: Excellent condition, minoir toning and imperfections.

In addition to being an accomplished artist, Alban Andren was also a “Solicitor of Patents, and Constructing Engineer” who by 1870 was operating from 4 Liberty Square, Boston and offering help to anyone who wished to apply for a patent. The US Patent office record a number of innovations registered by him in a period up to the end of the century.

The date on the drawing is confirmed by the fact that the firm of Hinkley & Williams only operated under that name from 1864 until 1872. The mainstay of the firm was the self-taught inventor Holmes Hinkley (1793-1866). “The company got its start in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1831. Holmes Hinkley and his partner Daniel F. Child founded the Boston Machine Works and soon built the third stationary steam engine that was constructed in Massachusetts. The company’s first locomotive was a 4-2-0 built in 1840 that followed the roughly standard designs of the 1830s. Hinkley’s early locomotives closely resembled those designed by John Souther.

Provenance: Donald Heald, New York, NY, Peter Tillou, Private Collection.