Royal Exchange Assurance Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: ca 1778
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Beginning in the late 17th century, English insurance companies maintained private fire brigades that were paid to respond to fires at properties they insured. Properties were identified by leaden badges (fire marks) bearing a insurance company’s emblem and often stamped with the customer’s policy number.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The Royal Exchange Assurance of London, England issued this lead fire mark around 1778. The fire mark features an oval upper section that is engraved with an image of the Royal Exchange building in London, but is missing its open crown at the top. There is a section under the oval that is inscribed with the policy number “72968.” The Royal Exchange Assurance was founded in 1720 and operated until 1968 when it was merged with the Guardian Assurance Company to create the Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: classified
content: Fire Fighting
label: Subject
content: Insurance
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Advertising
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content: Work
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content: Firefighting Collection
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content: Fire Marks
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0233.0564
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0564
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: lead (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 1/2 in x 9 in; 19.05 cm x 22.86 cm