Black-painted Cast Iron Columbian Press Eagle

Description:

Black-painted Cast Iron Columbian Press Eagle, Philadelphia, early19th century, spreadwing full relief figure grasping the thunderbolts of Jove, the olive branch of peace and the cornucopia of plenty, mounted on a later canted wood plinth, (paint loss),overall ht. 23 1/2 wd. 17 1/2 in.

Provenance: Harold Corbin.

Literature: An engraving of the press is pictured in The American Eagle by Phillip M. Isaacon, (Little Brown & Co., 1977); and in Cyclopaedia, printed in Philadelphia, 1813, now in the Library of Congress.

Note: The Columbian iron hand press was invented in 1813 by a Philadelphia mechanic named George Clymer (1754-1834). Clymer made several dozen presses before leaving Philadelphia in 1818 to manufacture presses in England and Europe. The design incorporated levers and counterweights. The eagle counterweight balanced on the counterpoise lever on the top of the press.
The press was adopted in 1819 as the emblem of Washington, D.C.'s Columbia Typographical Society, a local union of journeyman printers.
Estimate $1,000-1,500

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