Edward Beyer (American, 1820-1865)
Landscape with Lake, 1853
oil on canvas
signed and dated lower right, with etched inscription on stretcher reading A Merry Christmas 1898 To Aurelia Miesse. Sophia Koop
20 x 29 3/4 inches.

This landscape features three figures in a canoe on a lake, with a waterfall and a mountain range in the background. The scene does not depict a recognizable Virginia or West Virginia location, and is most likely a fanciful one.

Sophia Miesse Koop was the great-granddaughter of Johann Daniel Miesse (1743-1818), a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Her father, and Johann Daniel's grandson, was Gabriel LaFayette Miesse (1807-1886), of Fairfield County, Ohio, who was purportedly the original owner of the painting. Where and how he acquired the work remains a mystery, although Beyer is known to have traveled through Ohio in 1853, and it is possible that he met Gabriel during his travels.
The painting descended in the present owner's family. The dedication on the stretcher refers to Aurelia Sorber Rosser (1854-1936). Her aunt, Sophia Miesse Koop (1835-1907), gifted the painting to her for Christmas in 1898. After Aurelia's death, the painting was bequeathed to the present owner's grandmother.

Small tear and paint loss, u.r corner. Craquelure throughout. Chips to the frame.