This colored print depicts a large revival meeting, with tents in the background and a large wooden pulpit in the foreground. Camp meetings were a popular form of Protestant worship throughout the 19th century. Lasting several days, these open-air events often involved ecstatic communal prayer. Hundreds and even thousands came from miles around for preaching and worship, and to enjoy the festival-like atmosphere. A large crowd is depicted in the foreground. Some people are sitting on benches, while others kneel on the ground or stand listening to a preacher.
This print was produced by Kennedy & Lucas and Hugh Bridport from a drawing by Alexander Rider,
Alexander Rider was a German or Swiss born artist, colorist and engraver. He is believed to have arrived in the United States in the early 1800s and worked for the next two decades in Philadelphia as a book illustrator, miniature and portrait artist and painter specializing in historical themes. By 1830 he had begun doing lithographic prints for Kennedy and Lucas. He continued working in printing in the 1840s and produced plates for a book on American natural history.
William B. Lucas was a Philadelphia gilder who owned a looking glass and print shop. He established what was said to be the first commercial lithography firm in Philadelphia in 1828. Within a few months another gilder, David Kennedy, became a partner in the firm. The company continued until Lucas died in 1833. Alexander Rider was a German or Swiss born artist, colorist and engraver. He is believed to have arrived in the United States in the early 1800s and worked for the next two decades in Philadelphia as a book illustrator, miniature and portrait artist and painter specializing in historical themes. By 1830 he had begun doing lithographic prints for Kennedy and Lucas. He continued working in printing in the 1840s and produced plates for a book on American natural history.
Hugh Bridport (1794-1870) was a London-born engraver, lithographer, portrait painter and architect. He began his artistic career in England, where he exhibited miniatures at the Royal Academy in 1813. He followed his brother George to Philadelphia around 1816, and the two brothers went on to establish a drawing academy and became successful artists. Hugh Bridport was a founding member of the Franklin Institute, where he taught architectural drawing for six years. He worked in the lithography trade with Kennedy & Lucas and other Philadelphia firms. Although mainly a portrait lithographer, he drew the lithograph for "Camp-Meeting" from Alexander Rider's painting, and exhibited paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and Artist's Fund Society. In the 1860 census he is listed as a "gentleman" with a personal estate worth $15,000 and in the 1870 census, before he died, he was listed as a merchant.
