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"Minot's Light" Fireboard

Collection Type

  • Art

Date

1860

GUSN

GUSN-3278

Description

Rectangular (oblong) format, with an elaborate gold frame painted around the border. View of Minot's Light at the far right with rocks behind it; a blue-green ocean is painted in stylized pattern of waves. There are several small sailing ships and a square rigger on the horizon.

Details

Descriptive Terms

seascapes
oil paint (paint)
canvas
Component, Fireplace
Fireboard
Fireboard

Label

"Cherished Possessions": This fireboard, designed to fit in a fireplace during the summer months when it was not in use, depicts Minot's Light, a lighthouse just outside of Boston Harbor in Scituate, Massachusetts. The lighthouse pictured is the second one on the site, completed in 1860. The stylized waves and trompe l'oeil gold frame add charm to the scene.

Inscription

On the back, in the lower left of the frame, on a blue bordered typed label is: Minot's Light./First lighted on Nov./15, 1860 to replace an/earlier light swept/away in 1851./Fireboard. On the back, in the upper right of the frame, on a white sticker, with black ballpoint reads: W.M. 266 . In the lower right, on the back, in a bordered label, observed by can. rev. and handwritten in blue ink is: Min[ot's]/Lig[ht]/built [ ].

Associated Building

Subject Minot's Light,

People and Organizations

Minot's Light

Maker

Drew, Clement (Maker)

Location of Origin

USA

Dimensions

37 1/2 x 49 x 1 (HxWxD) (inches)

Credit Line

Gift of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little

Accession Number

1991.1062

Places

Massachusetts (United States)

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