Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
February 1814
Primary Source Reference:
Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 71
Notes:
John Meer (1756–1831), artist and inventor, immigrated to the United States from his native Wolverhampton, England. By 1790 he had settled in Philadelphia, where in 1798 he became a naturalized citizen. In 1795 Meer exhibited flowers painted on the back of glass and five flower pieces “in imitation of Enamel.” He served as the president of the Society of Artists and Manufacturers in 1804, and in 1813 both he and Thomas Jefferson were incorporators of the Columbian Society of Artists, formerly the Society of Artists of the United States. Meer was the regulator of weights and measures for Philadelphia, 1809–18, and in 1812 he contracted to paint canteens and knapsacks for the United States Army. He received a patent in 1815 for graphic plates used for banknotes and another in 1818 for an improvement in bookbinding. Jefferson Papers, Founders Online, National Archives / https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-10-02-0094-0001
