N.C. Brainard Acquisition Fund and Seymour Museum Fund Income, 1973.25.61, Connecticut Museum o…

Images(2)

Ben Dyer Store, 1874

PainterPainted by Louis Grosvernor Frink American, 1869 - 1956

Date1946

MediumDrawing; pencil, watercolor, and gouache on brown paper on cardboard

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 15 3/4 x 20in. (40 x 50.8cm)
Sheet (height x width): 15 3/4 x 20in. (40 x 50.8cm)
Mount (height x width): 15 3/4 x 20in. (40 x 50.8cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineN.C. Brainard Acquisition Fund and Seymour Museum Fund Income

DescriptionDrawing of three white houses with black roofs and red brick central chimneys. The houses are flanked by tall verdant trees.

Object number1973.25.61

MarkingsOn verso, stamped in black ink, "American Primitives / by Lou Frink / Windham, Conn. No. 61"InscribedOn verso, upper center, in pen, "Ben Dyre Store / in 1874 Lou Frink / Painted 1946"

Lower right, in pencil, accession number

[The notes written in pen on verso are in Lou’s handwriting; the pencil notes are not.]NotesIn Windham, CT, stood Benjamin Dyer's drug store. According to records, Benjamin Dyer operated the largest drugstore in Eastern Connecticut. Dr. Dyer claimed to offer the most extensive assortment of goods in the region, and his shelves once held as much as one hundred and fifty pounds of wafers, which was used daily at the time. His business served physicians throughout the surrounding countryside, and at one point he even imported goods directly from London.

Sources:
Larned, Ellen Douglas. History of Windham County, Connecticut: Volume 2. United States: Heritage Books, 1998.

Lincoln, Allen B.. A Modern History of Windham County, Connecticut: A Windham County Treasure Book. United States: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1920.

Subject Terms