Impressionistic drawing from a raised vantage point showing the 400 block of Chestnut Street. Includes the Provident Life and Trust Company Bank and Office Building at 401-411 Chestnut (built 1876-1879, altered 1888-1902, demolished 1959-60); the Philadelphia Trust Company at 413-417 Chestnut (built 1873-1874, demolished 1959); Philadelphia National Bank at 419-423 Chestnut (built 1857-1859, altered between 1892-1908); Farmers and Mechanics Bank at 425-429 Chestnut (built 1884-1885, altered 1917); and the Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities at 431 Chestnut (built 1871-1873). Also shows street and pedestrian traffic, including automobiles., Title inscribed in pencil on mount., Signature of artist in lower right corner., Date inferred from drawing style and depiction of automobiles., Gift of David Doret and Linda G. Mitchell., Philip Kassel, born in Germany, was a commercial artist and illustrator in Philadelphia by 1910. Between the 1910s and 1950, he was listed in city directories with offices on the 300 and 400 blocks of Walnut Street.
Creator
Kassel Philip, 1876-1959, artist
Date
[ca. 1930]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Doret and Mitchell Collection - Drawings & Watercolors [P.2018.61.18]
Watercolor and gouache view looking east on Chestnut Street between Fifth and Fourth Streets depicting the 400 block of Chestnut Street. Includes two banks designed by Philadelphia architect William Strickland. Shows the United States Bank of Pennsylvania, formerly the Bank of the United States (i.e., Second Bank, later U.S. Custom House, 1844-1935), constructed 1818-24 at 420 Chestnut Street and the Philadelphia Bank, completed in 1837 at 400-408 Chestnut Street. Also contains partial views, in the foreground, of an adjacent storefront with signage for "Hanry [sic] Parkin.." as well as the entryway of the United States Hotel on the opposite side of the street. Men enter the storefront and stand in the entryway to the hotel. Also includes street and pedestrian traffic. Women promenade as couples, men converse, and men walk up and down the stairs of the United States Bank., Title supplied by cataloger., Date range inferred from fashion of figures depicted and manuscript note lower left: From a contemporary picture.
Date
[ca. 1840]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Doret and Mitchell - Drawings & Watercolors [P.2018.61.19]
