Prize Oxen of James Anderson Perrine

Artist Alessandro E. Mario

Period1856

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions25 × 30 in. (63.5 × 76.2 cm)

InscribedInscribed lower left on rock, "First Premium / U. St. Agr. Society. / 1856."

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineGift of Mrs. F. A. C. Perrine, 1932

Object number119

DescriptionTwo brown oxen in a double yoke are posed in front of outbuildings on a farm. To the right is a double corn crib and wagon house with a black covered wagon and a red open wagon positioned in front of it. A large barn with an open hinged door is behind two trees which have animal guards around their bases. A rock in the lower left bears the inscription. The artist has turned this into a genre painting by including three human figures in the landscape. A young boy is pumping water from a wooden pump in front of the barn, a woman is feeding chickens and turkeys in front of the wagon house, and a male figure is emerging from the open door of the wagon house. A beam of sunlight brightens up the grass in front of the ox team. A sunset sky with dark clouds completes the composition.
Curatorial RemarksThis painting is one of five works by Alessandro E. Mario in the collections of the Association. Three of them were commissions from James Anderson Perrine. Although the artist did not sign this work, Alessandro E. Mario painted two other works, both depicting James Anderson Perrine and his son Aaron Combs Perrine riding in carriages. One has them posed in front of the large residence on the farm that stood at the end of a long lane entering from Route 33.NotesThe farm of James Anderson Perrine was located north of Route 33 and west of Wemrock Road in Manalapan Township. The property is now part of the Monmouth Battlefield State Park. The Perrine residence burned in the early 20th century, but the farm buildings remained in use for several decades thereafter.

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