Abraham Pether – Biographical Notes
Nightblooming Cereus Illustration from Temple of Flora R.J. Thornton published 1800
Artists: Philip Reinagle (1749-1833)
and Abraham Pether (1756 – 13 April 1812)
DIED: April 13, 1812
CHILDREN: Sebastian (b. 1790 d. 1844)
COUSIN: William Pether (b. Carlisle, 1731 d. 1876)
[from Dictionary of painters and engravers, published by G. Bell, London 1903]
PETHER, Abraham, was born at Chichester in 1756. In the early part of his life lie applied himself to the study of music, and at the age of nine years, is said to have occasionally performed as organist in his native city. He afterwards turned his thoughts to painting, in which he was instructed by George Smith, and attained a considerable rank in the art as a landscape painter, particularly by his moonlight effects, whence he has obtained the sobriquet of “Moonlight Pether.” A “Harvest Moon” by him met with special admiration. His moonlight pieces are notable for their astronomical accuracy. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1784, his subject being “Moonlight.” In 1789 he followed this with “A Ship on Fire at Night,” and at intervals with others, till in 1811 he sent a second “Eruption of Vesuvius.” Pether not only distinguished himself as painter and musician ; his philosophical and mathematical researches were of some value. He also showed skill as a mechanic, and constructed various optical instruments, such as telescopes, miscroscopes, air-pumps, and electric instruments. Pether died April 13th, 1812.
PETHER, Sebastian, the eldest son of Abraham Pether, was born about 1790, and was probably instructed by his father, as he painted similar subjects. His pictures consist of moonlights, conflagrations, and sunsets, and exhibit fine feeling; but the narrowness of his circumstances, and the largeness of his family, reduced him to the necessity of working for picture-dealers, and beyond them it does not appear that he ever had a patron, except
in one instance. That patron was Sir John F. Leicester, Bart., who commissioned him to paint “A Caravan overtaken by a Whirlwind,” which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1826, together with “The Destruction of a City by a Volcano.” His first and almost his only previous contributions had been in 1814, when his subjects were “A View
from Chelsea Bridge,” and “The Burning of Drury Lane Theatre.” He had considerable knowledge in the mechanical arts, and, it is said, was the first that suggested the idea and construction of the stomach-pump to Mr. Jukes, the surgeon who introduced it to the medical profession. His pictures are not numerous; but they were a source of great emolument to his friends the dealers, as they could be readily copied, and the copies disposed of to country gentlemen; whence it is that his name so frequently appears in catalogues. His real works have considerable merit. He died at Battersea in 1844.
[from Nollekens and his times published by London, Richard Bentley & Son, 1895]
When Abraham Pether, the painter of the celebrated picture of “The Harvest Moon,” employed himself a whole day to make his wife a dust-shovel, he was so indiscreet, though he at that time stood in need of purchasers, as to refuse the admittance of two gentlemen who walked from London to Chelsea with the full determination to bespeak pictures of him. The painter, however, after he had whistled through a dozen new tunes and smoked as many pipes, at length finished his task, and remarked to a friend, “There, my boy, if you were to give half-a-crown for a dust-shovel, I will be bound to say you could not get a better.”
Abraham Pether was one of those silly beings who endeavour to gain popularity by being called eccentric; and, amongst others, he often practised the following trick : He would knock at a friend’s door, and when the servant opened it, he was discovered striking a light to set fire to his pipe, and then when he had accomplished his task, he would walk in whiffing his tobacco.