Firemen Past and Present: 'Whoop Her Up"
Lithographer H. A. Thomas and Wylie Lithographic Company American
Publisher Buchanan and Lyall American
Not on view
New York printmakers have long celebrated the city’s firefighters. In the eighteenth century, engraved certificates honored the members of volunteer fire companies. In the nineteenth century, series devoted to "The Life of a Fireman" became popular. This brilliantly colored lithograph belongs to a group of six that traces how a fire company responds to a blaze. Earlier images show a fire company preparing its equipment and racing to a fire; later ones show the decision to stop and return home. This central scene depicts buildings ablaze, children rescued, and a captain directing his men. The phrase "whoop her up" suggests a kind of euphoria. Several lithographic stones were used to produce tonal richness, with a layer of gum applied last.
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