Cogswell Memorial Fountain, (sculpture).

Cogswell Memorial Fountain, (sculpture).

Cogswell, Henry D., 1819-1900, designer.

Monumental Bronze Company, founder.

Cogswell Memorial Fountain, (sculpture).

Guardian of the Fountain, (sculpture).

Sculpture: zinc, painted silver and gilded; Base: stone.

Sculpture: approx. 9 ft. x 5 ft. 4 in. x 7 ft.; Base: approx. 1 in. x 10 ft. x 10 ft. (5,000 lbs.).

(On west side:) Monumental Bronze Co., Bridgeport, CT (On east side:) Presented to the town of/Vernon/and village of/Rockville/In Honor of/Wm. T. Cogswell/By Dr. Henry D./Cogswell/A Citizen of/San Francisco CAL/Welcome (On west side:) The Records of/A.D. 1883/Deposited within/Will Rejoice Antiquarians./Man And/The Faithful/Dog Will Find Here/Refreshing/Welcome Founder's mark appears.

Ornate, roughly rectangular fountain has a graduated series of basins on the north and south sides and inscriptions on the east and west sides. There are medallions above each inscription, bearing the numbers 883 on the east side and C H D on the west side. The decorative elements on the fountain include shells, flowers, foliage, fish, waterfowl and frogs. A dog looks into the bottom basin at the right. The fountain is topped with an urn.

Homage -- Cogswell, William T.,

Animal -- Amphibian -- Frog

Object -- Foliage

Object -- Other -- Vase

Outdoor Sculpture -- Connecticut -- Vernon

Administered by Town of Vernon, Public Works, 375 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, Connecticut 06066

Located Central Park, Across from 20 East Main Street, Vernon, Connecticut

Erected by Dr. Henry D. Cogswell, a native of Tolland, Connecticut, in honor of William T. Cogswell. The cost was $4,000. The Town contributed $500 for the foundation, water, plumbing and lighting. This is one of several fountains erected by Dr. Cogswell around the country in an effort to promote temperance by providing drinking water. The sculpture originally had a full-length figure of Dr. Cogswell on top, with a temperance pledge in one hand and an empty glass in the other. On July 4, 1885, the figure was stolen and dumped into the Snipsic Lake. It was recovered, cleaned and replaced, only to disappear shortly afterward. The Cogswell figure reappeared on July 4, 1908, during the Town Centennial Celebration. It was then brought to the Town Farm and was finally melted for scrap metal during World War II. The figure has been replaced with an urn-shaped planter. In the summer of 1969, the work was repainted and regilded. The base was reinforced and a new spigot was installed. IAS files include related articles from the Tolland County Journal, June 15, 1883 and Yankee Magazine, March 1971, which includes photographs of the fountain in 1883 and 1969. For related reading, see "Cascades and Courage," by George S. Brooks, (Rockville, [CT]: T. F. Rady & Co., 1955).

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Connecticut survey, 1994.

Yankee Magazine 35 (March 1971): pg. 102.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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