Collection Highlights
Fire engine condenser case of the Clinton Fire Company No. 41
Date:
ca. 1842
Object Number:
1937.1631
Medium:
Wood, oil paint, gilding
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Washington Monument Commemorative Ribbon
Object Number:
INV.2855
Date:
1847
Medium:
Silk
Dimensions:
Overall: 7 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. ( 19.7 x 7 cm )
Inscriptions:
Handwritten note with ribbon:
"Silk Badge worn by Joseph LeViness Capt. of the "Washington Grays" at laying on corner-stone of the Washington Monument New York, Oct 19 1847 (with view of proposed monument)
presented by his son Wmst LeViness Nov 17., 1909"
Description:
White silk souvenir ribbon with copper engraved image of plan for Washington Monument; printed in black with "TO THE/ GOOD AND THE GREAT/ FIRST IN WAR- FIRST IN PEACE- AND FIRST IN THE/ HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN./ In honor of laying the Corner Stone of the/ WASHINGTON MONUMENT,/ BY THE ASSOCIATION,/ OCTOBER 19, 1847./ TRUSTEES./ E.K. COLLINS,/ JOHN LEVERIDGE,/ JOSEPH C. HART,/ HENRY STORMS,/ THOMPSON PRICE,/ W.C.H. WADDELL,/ CALVIN POLLARD,/ JOHN PAINE,/ WILLIAM F. PLATT,/ WILLIAM HALL,/ HAMILTON FISH,/ ELIAS G. DRAKE,/ SHEPHARD KNAPP."
Gallery Label:
This ribbon commemorates the laying of the first cornerstone of the Washington Monument in 1847. Major construction took place between 1847-56 and 1876-84, although plans for a national monument began as early as 1783. The President's death in 1799 rekindled public interest in the previously proposed memorial, and with the leadership of John Marshall and James Madison, a 1936 design competition chose architect Robert Mills' neoclassically inspired obelisk and collonade design represented here.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
