Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
1785
Primary Source Reference:
Columbian Magazine, vol. 1, no. 3 (November 1786), p. 109 and detail of plate facing p. 103
Notes:
The paddlefish was the first object in the Peale Museum, other than the portraits. Charles Willson Peale described its acquisition: "Mentioning to Mr Robert Patterson, the idea that had been suggested to me, of adding natural curiosities to my picture gallery, he much approved the plan, and said he had an article which was considered interesting; a fish found in the Allegany river, near Pittsburgh, called a paddle-fish; the like had not been known for many years. To this fish is attached the donor's name, and the date of the commencement of the museum, 1785." The paddlefish was featured on the Museum's printed admission ticket (bottom center, pictured here) and in the painting "The Artist in His Museum." Charles Willson Peale, "Address to the Corporation and Citizens of Philadelphia," 18 July 1816; Selected Papers, 3: 413
Robert Patterson (1743 -1824), a native of Ireland, emigrated to America in 1768. He was professor of mathematics at the College of Philadelphia (1779-1814), an active member of the American Philosophical Society (elected 1783, president 1819-death), and a Visitor of the Peale Museum. The dried paddlefish, caught in the Allegheny River in 1785, was the first donation to the Museum. It was featured on the Museum's printed admission ticket and in the painting "The Artist in His Museum."
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Peale's Common Name:
Paddle-fish
Current Common Name:
American paddlefish
Current Scientific Name
Polydon spathula
