19th Century George Washington Cast Iron Stove Figure

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19th Century George Washington Cast Iron Stove Figure

About the Item

A striking 19th century cast iron figure of George Washington, the full-body figure composed of two joined halves with a well detailed head, body and robe details, the back inscribed in cursive, in the casting, "Design Patented Aug. 26, 1843," together with a carved and white-painted Ionic column capital. Provenance: The Collection of Frederic and Jean Sharf This cast iron figure of George Washington is one of the most striking of all 19th century "dumb stoves." These usually did not have a firebox, but were connected by a stovepipe to a functioning stove on a floor below. That way two rooms could be heated by one stove. The designer, Alonzo Blanchard (1799-1864), chose Washington because the country was preoccupied with the nation's first president as a symbol of unity. In this guise, Washington is shown wearing a Roman toga over 18th century clothing. Blanchard probably based his design on the 1826 marble statue of Washington by Francis Chantrey, installed in the Massachusetts State House. (Source: The Albany Institute) Measures: Height 47 inches Height on column capital base: + 11 1/4 inches Width 16 inches Depth 7 1/2 inches Column capital dimensions: Height 11 1/4 inches Width 25 1/2 inches Depth 11 1/2 inches. Literature: Similar examples of "dumb stoves" (a stove with no opening in the room in which it is used, but rather connected to a stove in a room below), are in the collection at Winterthur and at Colonial Williamsburg, among other museums. The Williamsburg example is illustrated and discussed in Deborah Harding's Stars and Stripes: Patriotic Motifs in American Folk Art (Rizzoli, New York, 2002), p. 231. Another was in the Harold Corbin Collection of American Iron, which was exhibited at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont in the summer of 1988 and another has price of place at Beauport, the former home of Henry Davis Sleeper and now a house museum owned by Historic New England. For related examples see: Fenimore, “Iron at Winterthur”, figs. 33A & 33B, p. 85; Horwitz, “The Bird, the Banner and Uncle Sam”, p. 124 (Smithsonian Institution).

Dimensions:
Height: 47 in (119.38 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)Depth: 7.5 in (19.05 cm)
Style:
American Classical (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Iron,Wood,Carved,Cast,Painted
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
Mid-19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
19th Century
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. There is a small, very old hairline crack at edge just to the right of center in the front half of the casting. Column capital base has old shrinkage cracks, wear and associated paint loss.
Seller Location:
Essex, MA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU837712573471