Reissue of the print after a commemorative painting of the hall on fire by Samuel Jones at the request of the publishers with added figures by the prominent Philadelphia genre painter, John Lewis Krimmel. View depicts several volunteer firefighters hosing the flame-engulfed tower of the majestic hall, erected in 1811, purportedly after the design of William Strickland. A large frenzied crowd, including African Americans and well-dressed men and women couples, gather on the street. Spectators push, shove, are knocked down, and watch the fire in horror. Residents flee with their belongings as firefighters blow horns and transport a handpump. The fire started by a faulty flue destroyed the building, which after several successful masonic charity events was rebuilt, without a tower, in 1820 under the direction of Strickland., Title from item., Third state., Inscribed below image: Copy right secured., Samuel Kennedy and Samuel West were members and official print publishers for the Association of American Artists, later headed by Krimmel., Barber, a Philadelphia printer, artist, and engraver, was in business from 1867 until 1885., See Anneliese Harding's John Lewis Krimmel. Genre artist of the early Republic. (Winterthur, Delaware: The Henry Francis Dupont Winterthur Museum, 1997), p. 206-208., See Milo Naeve's John Lewis Krimmel: An artist in Federal America. (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1987), p. 109., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America #30., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator
Hill, John, 1770-1850, engraver
Date
[ca. 1876]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **PhPr - Associations - Masonic Hall [P.9210.5]
