The art history and legacy of Chadds Ford goes beyond the
names of Wyeth, Kuerner and Scarborough. The name Wells is also part of the
legacy.
Wells?
Yes, Wells, as in Peter Scoville Wells.
Wells is a Chadds Ford resident whose grandfather was Royal
Lacey Scoville, a Pittsburgh stockbroker and bond trader who became the
illustrator and writer of the snake book, "The Dream of Tom
Tompkins," now on display at the Brandywine River Museum, along with a
series of drawings and wooden boxes used to entertain his daughter who became
Wells’ mother, Eleanor.
A snake book is one where the pages aren’t bound in the
traditional sense. They’re formed in an accordion fold.
Seeing Scoville’s work on display at the museum brings back
memories for Peter and his brother, Jonathon Wells, who donated the work to the
museum.
“Johnny and I grew up looking at these pictures and we grew
up crayoning a couple of them,” Peter Wells said.
“When we were growing up, the snake book was almost
something, not of reverence, but my mother thought it was really terrific
because it reflected the personality of her father who she was extremely fond
of,” said Jonathon Wells. The snake books were always in the drawers of the
desks. We’d pull them out occasionally. At that time, I don’t think we
attributed that much significance to them as an artistic production.”
That did change over time. Peter’s wife, Patricia, was
pondering what to do for her master’s of art thesis. As Patricia told the
story, she and Peter were in bed talking about the project when one of them
brought up the idea of using Peter’s grandfather’s work.
“We jumped out of bed and ran upstairs. We almost fought
each other to see who would get to the book first,” Patricia Wells said.
When she completed her thesis in 1999, it was the first time
the book was seen in public.
There was another event for the book. In 1985, there was a
propane explosion at the Wells’ home. Somehow the book came out unscathed,
without suffering fire, smoke or water damage.
Scoville took inspiration from stories such as “Alice in
Wonderland,” “Through the Looking Glass” and others. His story deals with Tom
and a giant snake that seizes 35 different creatures. With the pages displayed
end-to-end, the snake is 44 feet long.
The exhibit, with 38 of Scoville’s works, is part of the
museum’s annual Brandywine Christmas that also features the O-gauge train
display, critter ornaments and a Victorian dollhouse. It runs through January
9.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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