Hand-in-Hand Fire Office Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: ca 1832
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 Hand-in-Hand Fire Office of London, England issued this lead fire mark around 1832. The mark consists of two clasped hands shaking underneath a crown. The strip of metal underneath the hands is inscribed with the policy number “103769.” The Hand-in-Hand Fire Office operated from 1696 until 1905, when it was acquired by the Commercial Union.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England
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
label: See more items in
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: 2005.0233.0562
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0562
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: lead (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 3/4 in x 1/2 in; 19.685 cm x 1.27 cm