Panoramic and bustling, winter view showing several men, women, and children, on the ice-covered river. In the center foreground, a small crowd gathers around a man reading a newspaper as around them, throngs of individuals traverse the frozen walkway, promenade as couples, make conversation, and fall, laugh, and grab one another as they slip on the ice. Several men skate, boys sled, dogs chase each other, and children frolic, including a pair retrieving a hat from a broken patch of ice. Others peddle refreshments from a table and flee from broken ice as ruffians engage in a fist fight. The cityscape of Philadelphia is visible in the background, including Christ Church and Independence Hall in addition to Spark's Shot Tower and Girard College. Also shows the frozen channel running through Windmill Island covered in barren trees in the far left of the image., Copyrighted by A.A. Dugan., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 165, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Bc 72 R 815, Dugan was a Philadelphia engraver.
Date
c1852
Location
Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Bc 72 R 815
Genre winter scene showing male students frolicking in the snow at the east end of the main building of the co-educational Quaker boarding school. Boys build snowmen, have snow ball fights, and sled on the snow-laden grounds covered with footsteps. Westtown was established in 1794 by the Society of Friends as a boarding school for boys and girls. The campus was separated into the girls' and boys' bounds, i.e., yards for recreation. Sledding, or coasting, was a favorite winter activity., Not in Wainwright., Mount contains printed border., Date inferred from companion prints (colored and uncolored) in the collection of Westtown School Archives, Westtown, Pa., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 221, Westtown School Archives holds multiple copies., Stamped on recto: Harold E. Gillingham Collection.
Creator
Collins, John, 1814-1902, artist
Date
[ca. 1858]
Location
Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Bb 46 W 538
