Fairmount Park Waterworks

DatePossibly ca. 1850.

Attributed to Jenny Emily (Merriman?) Snow (active ca. 1850)

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Hinsdale (possibly)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 28 1/8 x 35 5/8in. (71.4 x 90.5cm) and Framed: 33 x 41 1/4in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.102.4

DescriptionView of Fairmont Park Waterworks along the the Schukyll River in Pennsylvania. Waterworks visible across the river on the left. On mount behind waterworks are two people, a lady dressed in red and a man. A brown, covered bridge crosses the river in the distance at the right, and in the lower right foreground, there is a canal with a man in a red shirt steering a boat. A man in a blue shirt and brown trousers stands by a canal lock. Two people with their backs to the viewer appear further down the path.
The 3-inch gilded and molded frame is possibly original but has been extensively repaired.
Label TextLike at least two other artists, Snow copied William H. Bartlett's engraved view of the waterworks built on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Bartlett's engraving appeared in Nathaniel P. Willis, AMERICAN SCENERY, II (London 1840), opposite page 71, and in at least one later Bartlett publication as well: William H. Bartlett, THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, I (New York, 1856), opposite page 452.

Benjamin Latrobe designed and began building the pumping station shown here in 1799. A source of great pride to Philadelphians, it continued in operation until 1912, when the reservoir on top of the hill was filled to provide a location for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which was constructed between 1919 and 1928.
ProvenanceJ. Stuart Halladay and Herrell George Thomas, Sheffield, Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson, who was AARFAC's vendor.