Fire Department.
PrintmakerLithographed by
Anthony Imbert
(American, active 1825 - 1835)
Date1825
MediumLithography; printer's ink on wove paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 7 5/8 x 9 1/2in. (19.4 x 24.1cm)
Sheet (height x width): 9 x 11in. (22.9 x 27.9cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineGift of James Reed
Object number2011.154.0
DescriptionThree men, formally dressed and wearing top hats, stand on a parade float drawn by four horses. A fourth man, seated on the front of the float, is driving the horses. He holds a long whip. One of the standing men holds a large banner depicting a man in uniform on horseback, presumably the Marquis de Lafayette. An eagle atop the staff is holding streamers in his beak with lettering that reads "LAFAYETTE OCTOBER 21 1781". A hand-operated fire engine is on the back of the float. Lettering the tank reads: "LAFAYETTE / 7". A fireman's helmet rest between the engine and men with the banner.
Label TextAlthough this parade float was part of a celebration in New York city, it suggests how banners in the Connecticut Historical Society's collections might have been used in similar festivities in Hartford and other Connecticut cities.
NotesSubject Note: This float was part of a parade held in New York City in October 1825 to celebrate the completion of the Erie Canal. It was published in Cadwallader D. Colden, Memoir... of the Completion of the New York Canals (New York, 1825). (Finlay 4/27/2011)Status
Not on view
Scovill Manufacturing Company
Richard Welling
