(Theatrical History) A 5 x 4 1/2 x 3 in. fragment of the proscenium decoration for the long-lost Richmond Hill Theatre that from 1831 to 1849 was located at the corner of Varick and Charlton Streets in Greenwich Village. The fragment was likely recovered during or prior to the 1849 demolition and preserved for posterity. It was part of the collection of the Player’s Club until the 1980s when it was sold at auction. It is housed in a simple but elegant wooden box with a glass top.

However the structure was much more than a theater. Major Abraham Mortimer built the original structure in 1760 as a country estate he named Richmond Hill, built upon an elevated, wooded spot known as Zandt Berg (or Sand Hill). The mansion was an imposing structure on with an elaborate garden which was the site of lavish parties among the New York elite. In the spring of 1776, George Washington briefly used the house as his headquarters as did the British during their subsequent seven-year occupation of the city. After the war, the house stood vacant until Vice President John Adams used the home while New York served as the nation’s capital from 1789 to 1790. Later in the decade, Aaron Burr made it his home from 1797 until his duel with Hamilton forced him to flee in 1804. Soon afterwards, John Jacob Astor took over the property around 1813. As the neighborhood developed, Astor moved the house about 100 feet to the corner of Varick and Charlton Streets in order to make way for more homes.

In 1819 the mansion and gardens became home to a circus and soon afterwards it operated as a pleasure garden. In 1831 an addition was made to the structure and it was converted into a theater operating under a variety of names including the Richmond Hill Theatre, Miss Nelson’s, Tivoli Gardens, National Theatre and the New Greenwich Theatre. For most of this period, the house struggled – when theatrical productions failed, the management tried opera. It finally closed as a theater in 1847 and prior to its demolition two years later, operated as a saloon and road house. It was replaced by a row of townhouses which in turn were demolished in 1913 when the City of New York extended Seventh Avenue from 14th Street which required a widening of Varick Street. The New York Times remarked in 1913 during the street-widening project: “Within a few months the Seventh Avenue subway diggers will be at work beneath the grounds which Mrs. John Adams admired for their attractive garden and handsome trees.”

The fragment bears the expected wear but is intact and makes for a great conversation piece.

(EXA 4345) $1,000