Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2009.43 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Permanent Bridge at Market Street |
Artist |
Kollner, Augustus |
Date |
1848 |
Description |
View of the Permanent Bridge at Market Street in an urban setting. The white-washed wooden bridge runs diagonally from the center background to the right foreground of the watercolor. In the immediate foreground are a cow and three goats along a dirt and grass slope. A red cart with a standing person, pulled by four horses, emerges from the left bridge entrance. A tugboat pulling three barges and a rowboat are visible on the Schuylkill River to the left. On the far bank, in the background, are three red industrial buildings including the City Gas Works. Two of the buildings have chimneys with billowing smoke. Signed "A. Kollner, fec" in the bottom right corner. Handwritten on iron gall ink on the back bottom right corner is, "High or Market Street Bridge also City Gas Works, Phila. In 1848 A. Kollner, Paint." |
Label |
The Permanent Bridge at Market Street in Philadelphia was the first covered bridge built in the United States. Before it opened in 1805, residents and visitors had to cross the Schuylkill River on ferries or floating bridges, which were often destroyed by floods and storms. The Permanent Bridge was an engineering and aesthetic achievement. Designed by Timothy Palmer, it measured 552 feet long and 31 feet high, and was decorated with wooden sculptures by William Rush. German artist and printmaker Augustus Kollner painted this watercolor of the bridge and the City Gas Works in 1848, two years before the bridge was gutted by fire and rebuilt for road and railroad traffic. |
Medium |
Watercolor on wove paper |
Dimensions |
H-16 W-20 inches |
Dimension Details |
Framed |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society |
Search Terms |
19th century nineteenth century painting Philadelphia landscape |