On View
Not on viewJ. Thoreau Fire bucket
Dateca. 1818
Terms
- Fire Buckets
- Leather
- Paint
- Boston
Dimensions35 × 22 × 25 cm (13 3/4 × 8 11/16 × 9 13/16 in.)
Credit LineJ. Thoreau Fire bucket, Boston and Concord, MA, about 1818. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of Mrs. Jennie Merriam LeBrun; Th39a.
Object numberTH39A
DescriptionLeather bucket, painted, with attached handle. One of a pair of fire-buckets (Th39a,b). Inscribed: "J.THOREAU/1794"
The fire buckets probably came from a Boston maker like John Fenno who specialized in the form; it is possible that the painted decoration was applied locally by an ornamental painter like William Whiting, whose shop on the Milldam made chaises.
A small shed on the south side of the Milldam housed the town fire engine in the early 19th century. It was manned by volunteers, members of the Concord Fire Society, which was incorporated in 1794 (the date on the buckets). Article one of the bylaws of the Fire Society states that each member "shall also provide himself with two good leather buckets and a bag made of strong cloth not less than one yard and an [half] in length and three fourths of [a] yard in width to be kept in one of the buckets all of which shall be well painted (the bag excepted) [with] the owners name together with the figures 1794 expressive of the date of this institution written thereon and kept in a fixed and convenient place for use and shall be used for no other purpose than in cases of fire..." John Thoreau became a member of the Fire Society in 1825 and served as secretary in the 1840s.
At some point the Thoreaus violated the precepts of Article One of the rules for the Fire Society. Thoreau rememberd "my mother made my pockets once of Father's old fire-bags, with the date of the formation of the Fire Society on them, --1794,-- though they made but rotten pockets..."
The fire buckets probably came from a Boston maker like John Fenno who specialized in the form; it is possible that the painted decoration was applied locally by an ornamental painter like William Whiting, whose shop on the Milldam made chaises.
A small shed on the south side of the Milldam housed the town fire engine in the early 19th century. It was manned by volunteers, members of the Concord Fire Society, which was incorporated in 1794 (the date on the buckets). Article one of the bylaws of the Fire Society states that each member "shall also provide himself with two good leather buckets and a bag made of strong cloth not less than one yard and an [half] in length and three fourths of [a] yard in width to be kept in one of the buckets all of which shall be well painted (the bag excepted) [with] the owners name together with the figures 1794 expressive of the date of this institution written thereon and kept in a fixed and convenient place for use and shall be used for no other purpose than in cases of fire..." John Thoreau became a member of the Fire Society in 1825 and served as secretary in the 1840s.
At some point the Thoreaus violated the precepts of Article One of the rules for the Fire Society. Thoreau rememberd "my mother made my pockets once of Father's old fire-bags, with the date of the formation of the Fire Society on them, --1794,-- though they made but rotten pockets..."
Collections
- Henry David Thoreau Collection
