Pair of Fire Buckets
Maker
Unknown, American
Collections
ClassificationsTOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
Dateca. 1839
Mediumleather and paint
Dimensions12 1/4 x 8 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (31.1 x 21.3 x 22.2 cm.)
DescriptionPair of red painted and eagle decorated fire buckets, each bucket front decorated with a dramatic shielded eagle, having banners as following: the top in clasped beak, inscribed - Mechanic Fire Society; the lower grasped in talons inscribed - William P. Gookin; the shield centered with a pair of trade symbolic shears, verso inscribed - 1811, No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
InscribedMechanic Fire Society; William P. Gookin; verso of each bucket - No. 1. 1811; No. 2. 1811
Credit LineJonathan and Karin Fielding Collection
Label TextFire, essential for heat, light, and food preparation, also posed a constant threat. Fires in Plymouth, Boston, Williamsburg, and Charleston, South Carolina, devastated those communities and prompted numerous building regulations and reforms. Leather buckets were used by volunteer firefighters, such as members of the Mechanic Fire Society in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to bring water from local wells to douse the flames and prevent the fire's spread. These buckets were often decorated with elaborate motifs.Status
On viewObject numberL2015.41.189
William Blake
ca. 1826-1827
Object number: 000.33
