Point Breeze: Joseph Bonaparte's American - estate of former king in New Jersey; art, furniture collections

Magazine Antiques, Oct, 2002 by Patricia Tyson Stroud

One painting that was neither displayed at Point Breeze, nor exhibited at the academy, was the portrait of Bonaparte's mistress Ann Savage and their two daughters, Caroline Charlotte and Pauline Josephe Anne (Pl. XIII). (24) Ann, known as Annette, was only eighteen when Bonaparte met her while buying a pair of suspenders at her mother's shop in Philadelphia. The sparkling young woman, who spoke French, was descended from a distinguished Virginia family, but her father had fallen on hard times. Bonaparte installed her at Bow Hill outside Trenton, New Jersey, an estate he rented from a friend.

The setting of the painting is no doubt Point Breeze, for the river in the right background is definitely the Delaware. It is interesting to compare this painting with Gerard's portrait of Julie Bonaparte and her two daughters (Pl. IV), which is thought to be set on the grounds of the chateau of Mortefontaine.

As the former king of Spain, Bonaparte fashioned his garden at Point Breeze into a park resembling the one at the Escorial, Philip II's austere sixteenth-century palace northwest of Madrid. Carriage roads and bridle paths wound through stands of pine and oak, over stone bridges, and past rustic gazebos, benches, and strategically placed statuary. Reuben Haines described riding through the grounds with Charles Lucien and Zenaide Bonaparte in a carriage:

Drawn by two Elegant Horses along the ever varying roads of the park amidst splendid Rhododendrons on the margin of the artificial lake on whose smooth surface gently glided the majestic European swans. Stopping to visit the Aviary enlivened by the most beautiful English Pheasants, passing by alcoves ornamented with statues and busts of Parian marble, our course enlivened by the footsteps of the tame deer and the flight of the Woodcock, and when alighting stopping to admire the graceful form of two splendid Etruscan vases of Porphyry 3 ft. high & 2 in diameter presented by the Queen of Sweden. (25)

In the winter, when the lake was frozen, skaters were welcomed to Point Breeze, and Bonaparte's servants brought large baskets of oranges, rare treats from Florida and Spain, so that the ex-king could roll them along the ice for his visitors. (26) At all times, the local children were allowed into the garden to ride the iron deer and lions like hobbyhorses and to play hide-and-seek amongst the marble gods and goddesses. (27)

For his daughter Zenaide and her husband, Bonaparte built a three-story house beside the lake, with an underground passage to the mansion to use in inclement weather. Even this Lake House, as it was called, was filled with fine works of art. A Philadelphia visitor in 1826 wrote in his diary:

The Porter when we called there introduced us into a large & elegantly carpeted Parlour...the Walls hung round with large & expensive paintings by the great masters of Europe. The largest was the Escape of Europa [Rape of Europa, P1. XI] drawn in great spirit, but with little regard to female modesty. (28)

There is no doubt that Joseph Bonaparte was an "ornament" to the society in which he lived in the United States from 1815 to 1832, and then for two short visits from 1835 to 1836 and from 1837 to 1839. He charmed those he met with his fascinating ties to the great events of recent European history, his intelligent conversation, his regal way of life, and what most Americans at the time thought exotic taste, particularly in paintings and statuary. Bonaparte has also been called "one of the most significant catalysts in disseminating European culture and artistic knowledge to early nineteenth century Americans." (29) His painting by David of Napoleon Bonaparte crossing the Alps, was copied by his neighbor in Bordentown, Charles B. Lawrence (c. 1790-c. 1864), who exhibited his copy in a Pennsylvania Academy exhibition in 1831. (30) At the 1847 sale of Bonaparte's possessions held at Point Breeze, one of the works listed was The Nativity of Our Saviour (now known as Adoration of the Shepherds) by Anton Raphael Me ngs (P1. XVI). The catalogue states: