"Mermaid and Her Lover" Engine Panel Painting
date: label: date made
content: ca 1840
name: label: maker
content: Woodside, John Archibald
notes: label: Description
content: In the nineteenth century, volunteer fire companies often commissioned paintings to decorate their hand-pumped fire engines for parades, competitions, and community events. Sometimes framed with elaborate carvings, they adorned the tall air chamber located at the middle or rear of a pumper. The paintings would often feature patriotic, heroic, or allegorical images to associate the volunteer companies with these lofty ideals.
label: Description
content: The Weccacoe Fire Engine Company No.19 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania commissioned this panel from John Woodside around 1840. The Weccacoe Fire Company was organized in 1800 as a hand engine company. It acquired a steam fire engine in 1859, which was replaced in 1864. It operated as a steam fire engine company until 1871 when Philadelphia’s paid firefighting department was established. This painting of the “Mermaid and Her Lover,” is likely a representation of the tale of Clytia the water nymph and her love for the god Apollo. Fire companies used neoclassical imagery to link their companies to the ancient ideals that the paintings depicted, in this case eternal love and loyalty. The use of neoclassical images also allowed artists to paint an idealized nude female form that would make their beloved engine especially eye-catching during parades.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
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content: Engine Panel Paintings
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Firefighting Collection
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content: Art
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: 2005.0233.0308
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0308
objectType: label: Object Name
content: painting, engine panel
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: oil paint (image material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 28 in x 17 1/4 in x 2 1/2 in; 71.12 cm x 43.815 cm x 6.35 cm