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More Smithsonian Searches     Who else has...     Wilson, John Albert,     J. N. White & Sons,     Spaulding Foundry,     Figure male -- Full length     Dress -- Uniform     Occupation -- Service     Disaster -- Fire     Architecture -- Vehicle     Architecture -- Commercial     Architecture -- Civic     Architecture -- Domestic     Architecture -- Industry     Cityscape -- Street     Animal -- Horse     Object -- Tool     Object -- Musical Instrument     Object -- Tool     Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- Boston     Relief     Sculpture

Boston Fire Department Memorial, (sculpture). Artist:  Wilson, John Albert, 1878-1954, sculptor. J. N. White & Sons, fabricator. Spaulding Foundry, founder. Title:  Boston Fire Department Memorial, (sculpture). Other Titles:  Firemen's Monument, (sculpture). Firefighters Memorial Monument, (sculpture). Dates:  1906. June 1909. Medium:  Sculpture: bronze; Base: Quincy granite; Base reliefs: bronze. Dimensions:  Sculpture: approx. H. 8 ft.; Base: approx. H. 13 ft. Inscription:  (Base, proper left side of figure:) John Wilson (Base, bottom right side:) J. M. White & Sons, Quincy (Base, front:) IN MEMORY OF DEPARTMENT COMRADES/THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY THE MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF/THE BOSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT/JUNE 1909 signed Description:  At the top of the monument there is a bronze figure of a male firefighter dressed in his fire fighting uniform which includes a heavy coat and a fireman's hat. He stands with his proper left foot forward and his proper left hand resting on the belt of his coat. The bronze firefighter figure rests atop a square granite base adorned with four bronze relief plaques which contain historical depictions of different types of fire wagons. On the front of the base, the relief depicts a horse-drawn boiler engine racing to a fire, smoke billowing from the back of the engine. One fireman stands on back of the engine and one fireman drives a team of racing horses. In the background smoke pours from a municipal building. On the left side of the base, the relief depicts a horse-drawn fire wagon speeding to a fire with eight firemen aboard. Two firemen are seated at the front driving a team of two horses. The other firemen are seated in the back of the wagon and one fireman stands in the middle ringing the fire bell. On the side of the wagon there is a ladder and an axe. In the background smoke streams across a row of townhouses and stores. On the right side of the base, the relief depicts a horse-drawn ladder wagon racing to a fire with eight firemen aboard. One fireman is seated at the front driving a team of three horses. Three firemen stand along the outside edge of the wagon and the rest of the firemen stand or sit on top of the stack of ladders in the back of the wagon. Factory buildings and smoke stacks appear in the background. A different type of relief appears on the back of the base; it does not show a firewagon in action, but rather it shows a detailed illustration of a water wagon with a bell on top. Subject:  Figure male -- Full length Dress -- Uniform -- Fireman Uniform Occupation -- Service -- Fireman Disaster -- Fire Architecture -- Vehicle -- Fire Engine Architecture -- Commercial -- Store Architecture -- Civic Architecture -- Domestic -- House Architecture -- Industry -- Factory Cityscape -- Street Animal -- Horse Object -- Tool -- Axe Object -- Musical Instrument -- Bell Object -- Tool -- Ladder Object Type:  Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- Boston Relief Sculpture Owner:  Forest Hills Cemetery, 95 Forest Hills Avenue, Lot 2338, Boston, Massachusetts 02130 Remarks:  John Albert Wilson created the bronze fireman and the bronze reliefs on the base. The bronze fireman was cast at the Spaulding Foundry and the granite base was fabricated by J. N. White & Sons. Funds for the $3,000 cost of the monument were raised by public donation. The monument is installed in the middle of a 13,594 square foot lot in the Forest Hills Cemetery. The lot was purchased from the town of Roxbury on December 19, 1856 by the Trustees of the Cemetery Association of the Boston Fire Department which later evolved into the Charitable Association of the Boston Fire Department. The monument is maintained by the Boston Fire Department. IAS files contain a Boston Fire Department fact sheet on the Firefighters Memorial Monument and the Firefighters lot in Forest Hills Cemetery. References:  Carlock, Marty, "A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston," Boston: Harvard Common Press, 1988, pg. 77. Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1994. National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, MA0141, MA0050, 1989. Monumental News, Sept. 1908; Jan. 1910. Illustration:  Image on file. Carlock, Marty, "A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston," Boston: Harvard Common Press, 1988, pg. 77. Note:  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. Repository:  Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 Control Number:  IAS 87740109   Copy/Holding information Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum Control Number   Inventory of American Sculpture 87740109 Add Copy to MyList Format: HTMLPlain textDelimited Subject:   Email to:

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