Pictorial Paint-Decorated Fireboard, Samuel Bartol (1764-1835), Marblehead, Massachusetts, Dated 1799

George Francis Dow mentions a Samuel Bartol in "Old-Time Ship Pictures," Magazine Antiques, October 1922, vol. 2, no. 4, p. 163, as "a Marblehead sign painter and mural decorator, who also painted several ship pictures." There are two Samuel Bartols listed in Marblehead at this time, father and son. This fireboard is believed to have been painted by the father, who would have been 35 years-old in 1799. He is also listed in genealogical records as a drummer 1776 and painter.