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Gift of Miss Susan M. Loomis, 1896.7.0  Photograph by Williamstown Art Conservation Center  © 2…
Sign for Hayden's Inn
Gift of Miss Susan M. Loomis, 1896.7.0 Photograph by Williamstown Art Conservation Center © 2009 The Connecticut Historical Society.

Sign for Hayden's Inn

Original Owner (American, 1732-1808)
Original Owner (American, 1736 - 1813)
Date1762
MediumPaint (traces remaining) on yellow or tulip poplar board, with pine frame and iron hardware
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (height x width including hardware): 46 x 33in. (116.8 x 83.8cm)
Other (height x width of sign only): 42 x 30 7/8in. (106.7 x 78.4cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of Miss Susan M. Loomis
DescriptionImage on front: a three-masted frigate, known locally as the "Old Ship", centered on board. Image on back: an English royal coat of arms, centered on board. No underlying images.

Construction: Single board; double, molded horizontal rails; turned posts. Board is set vertically and hand-sawn at top and bottom to create decorative pediment and skirt profiles; board is held by nails between paired molded rails. Each rail is tenoned into the turned posts and secured with two pins. The rails of this sign differ from those in other two Saybrook group signs, in that the orientation of the lower rail molding repeats rather than reverses the profile of the upper rail. Style analysis suggests that this example is the second of the three made by this unknown maker, a chronology confirmed by the documentary evidence on tavern licensing. Wood used Liriodendron tulipifera, yellow or tulip poplar, for the central panel; and Pinus strobus, eastern white pine, for the rails and turned posts; identified by analysis (Hoadley, March 2000).
Object number1896.7.0
NotesHistorical Note: The original location of this sign is a two-story frame dwelling, built in 1766, at the foot of Main Street, on the Connecticut River bank in what is now the village of Essex. The building survives and is now owned by the Dauntless Club. At least two reproductions of the old sign have hung in front of the club, the earlier installed before 1937, and a new one created about 1999. Maker Note: Although the specific maker is unknown, this is attributed to a Saybrook sign maker active about 1749 to 1771.
On View
On view
Collection of Morgan B. Brainard. Gift of Mrs. Morgan B. Brainard, 1963.611.12  Photograph by W…
Deodate Bement
about 1786-1810
Collection of Morgan B. Brainard. Gift of Mrs. Morgan B. Brainard, 1961.63.8
Ambrose Kirtland
about 1771
Collection of Morgan B. Brainard. Gift of Mrs. Morgan B. Brainard 1961.63.9  © 2005 The Connect…
Captain Edward Bull
1749
Collection of Morgan B. Brainard. Gift of Mrs. Morgan B. Brainard, 1961.63.31  Photograph by Wi…
Amos Hinman
about 1795-1815
Collection of Morgan B. Brainard. Gift of Mrs. Morgan B. Brainard, 1961.63.7 © 2008 The Connect…
Captain Aaron Bissell Sr.
Sign for Blatchly's Inn
Moses Blatchly Jr.
1788