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Object Timeline

-0001	We photographed this object.
1917	We acquired this object.
1970	We photographed this object.
2011	We photographed this object.
2012	This was an Object of the Day.
2014	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Bandbox, Engine Company No. 13

This is a Bandbox. It was made by H. Barnes. It is dated 1831–44 and we acquired it in 1917. Its medium is block printed on handmade paper, pasteboard support. It is a part of the Wallcoverings department.

Popular between 1800 and 1850, bandboxes were originally designed to store and protect the ruffled and starched collar bands fashionable for men at the time. They were also used for transporting and storing hats and as general carry-alls. Bandboxes were generally constructed of pasteboard, while the more expensive models were composed of wood. The exteriors were covered with a layer of printed paper—either wallpaper or a design printed specifically for bandbox use. Occasionally, the box interior was lined with newspapers of the day.
During the 1830s and 1840s, many boxes began sporting scenes of travel and historic events. This bandbox features a fire engine that was received by Eagle Engine Company No. 13 of New York City in 1830. Painted black, with gold striping and silver-plated brass-work, it was a man-powered tub engine in which the stream of water came from the goose-neck pipe on top of the air chamber. Fire extinguishers of this type were patented by Richard Newsham of England sometime between 1721 and 1725, and the style continued both here and abroad until well into the early part of the nineteenth century. Most engine carts were hand-pulled until the mid-nineteenth century. The first steam-powered engine was built in London in 1829 and was horse-drawn. Two members of Engine Company No. 13 were killed putting out a blaze on Pearl Street in 1834, and a huge funeral procession made up of relatives, firefighters, and members of the public escorted the bodies up Broadway to the cemetery.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Eagle Engine No. 13.

This object was donated by Eleanor Garnier Hewitt and Sarah Cooper Hewitt. It is credited Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.

Drawing, Design for a Moorish Smoking Room [Tabagie]

Drawing, Design for a Moorish Smoking Room [Tabagie]
brush and watercolor, gouache, graphite on wove paper.
Thaw Collection.
2012-5-2

This textile features a dense, bustling collage of New York City skyscrapers and landmarks. The repeating pattern creates a strong visual rhythm down the length of the textile. The various images are taken from different perspectives and layered together at different scales, creating a dizzying, fantastic landscape. Towering skyscrapers, including the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, and Woolworth Building, jostle with scenes of pedestrians and street traffic. Views of the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge create dynamic diagonal motion. The Statue of Liberty is juxtaposed against an ocean liner. The hard, straight lines of the architecture are offset by the softer lines of trees and foliage scattered throughout the composition.

Object ID #18628817
cotton.
Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.
1988-55-1

Sidewall, Japonaiserie
machine-printed paper.
Gift of Grace Lincoln Temple.
1938-62-18

Our curators have highlighted 3 objects that are related to this one.

Sidewall, City Park
screen printed on mylar.
Gift of Flavor Paper and Dan Funderburgh.
2007-36-2

A pale grey, vertical strip of sidewall, with a darker grey border edging the two sides and the bottom. White wafts of smoke form a vertical, irregular stripe pattern across the paper.

Object ID #18733673
digital print on paper.
Gift of Trove.
2009-32-2

On a bright yellow background are six repeating historic scenes of human activity in black and white. Scrolling down, from left to right, three figures are playing with a basketball as a basket hangs from a tree branch. The next image are male and female figures dancing to the backdrop of a triumphant arch and a boom box on the left of the male. On the left is an image of a figure in a dress, jumping over a tree truck lying on the road being chased by horses. On the right, is an image of a seated picnic with a focus on a well dressed women being served, sitting next to a tree. Below this are seated women getting her hair braided while a woman holding a mirror sits under a tree and three young girls skip rope.

Sidewall, Harlem Toile de Jouy
screen printed on paper.
Gift of Studio Printworks.
2007-42-1

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 31.8 x 44.7 x 37.5 cm (12 1/2 x 17 5/8 x 14 3/4 in.)

It has the following markings

Printed label pasted inside lid: "H. BARNES"/ BANDBOX/ MANUFACTORY,/ No. 33 Jones' Alley/ Near Second Street, Opposite Christ Church,/ PHILADELPHIA./ FANCY & RIBBON BOXES MADE IN HANDSOME STYLE/..."

Cite this object as

Bandbox, Engine Company No. 13; Made by H. Barnes (USA); USA; block printed on handmade paper, pasteboard support; H x W x D: 31.8 x 44.7 x 37.5 cm (12 1/2 x 17 5/8 x 14 3/4 in.); Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt; 1917-36-7-a,b

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Hewitt Sisters Collect.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2Bepi/
Accession Number 1917-36-7-a,b
Object ID 18190499