PBA Galleries

2 original pencil and gouache on paper. Each 21x31 cm. (8¼x12¼"). Each drawing captioned, as follows: Der ort und die Gruben von Vetagrande [and] La Hacienda de Cedros, Staats Domaine / Zeitweiliges exil des Vice President Varias von Mexico.

A native of Monschau, Germany, Carl de Berghes was a skilled cartographer and draftsman who undertook pioneer archeological studies in Zacatecas, Mexico in the 1830s. Berghes left Germany for Mexico in 1824 to seek his fortune, initially working with Friedrich von Gerolt, with whom he undertook an important chart of the mining districts of the state of Mexico. In 1828 Berghes arrived in Zacatecas where he worked for an English mining company managed by Joseph Burkhardt, a fellow German. The first drawing of the present pair of delightful and expertly drawn views, depicts life in the mining town of Veta Grande, Zacatecas during the time Berghes was there in 1833. The second drawing is a view of the Hacienda de Cedros, depicting the solid stone buildings of the country home of Gomez Farias, vice president and sometime president of Mexico. The hacienda view is captioned by Berghes: "Beschreibung der Provinz von Zacatecas / Anfgenom en 1833 aez 1856 von C:de Berghes."