Collection Highlights
Indenture of Peter van Dyck and Cornelia, his Wife, Documenting the Administration of Margrieta van Varick's Estate
Date:
September 4, 1719
Object Number:
MSS.VanCortlandtPapers.vanDyck
Medium:
Pen and ink on paper, wax
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Fire engine condenser case
Object Number:
1937.1632
Date:
1845-1850
Medium:
Wood, paint, gilding
Dimensions:
Overall: 32 1/2 x 30 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. ( 82.6 x 78.1 x 36.8 cm )
Marks:
painted: on banner at top of panel: "TO THE / MEMORY OF / DEPARTED / WORTH"
painted: on pedestal in center foreground: "JACKSON" and "DIED / JUNE 8TH 1845"
painted: on pedestal in left mid-ground: "LUTHER BILLINGS"
painted: on pedestal in right mid-gro
Description:
Wooden fire engine condenser case; half-cylindrical form with overhanging top and painted image on front framed by arch over pilasters, with keystone and spandrels outlined with wide bands of gilding; painted image of landscape beneath red-and-white striped drapery over blue drapery with white stars centering an eagle with outstretched wings and banner inscribed "TO THE MEMORY OF DEPARTED WORTH" held in its beak; landscape with male portrait bust on pedestal inscribed "JACKSON" in center foreground, with broken column on pedestal inscribed "LUTHER BILLINGS" in left mid-ground and urn on pedestal inscribed "JOHN WALLACE" in right mid-ground.
Gallery Label:
Featuring a banner in the beak of an American eagle with the words "to the memory of departed worth," this condenser case commemorates the life of President Andrew Jackson, who died on June 8, 1845. The image suggests that a great leader has fallen, conveyed by the presence of a broken column, a popular grave marker in the 18th and 19th centuries and particularly prevalent in the iconography of Freemasonry (in which Jackson was involved). The urn on the pedestal at right further contributes to the funerary mood of the scene.
The condenser case would have belonged to New York City's Jackson, No. 24, which was founded in 1798 and was reorganized once in 1813 and again on January 29, 1836, with a station at Seventeenth Street west of Ninth Avenue. The company went out of service in 1865.
Credit Line:
Purchased from Elie Nadelman
Provenance:
The Folk Art Collection of Elie Nadelman
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
