Item 39: An Engraving by W[aterman]. L[ily]. Ormsby, [ca. 1848], of Major General Zachary Taylor, Resolution of Congress, March 9, 1848, after C[harles] C[ushing] Wright, 1848
Item — Box: 9, Folder: 39
Dates
- 1848
Creator
- Ormsby, Waterman Lily, 1809-1883 (Person)
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
From the Collection: 17 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Photograph; Engraving
Condition Note:
Excellent
Measurements:
5 ⅛ x 9 ⅛ in.
Description:
The following item depicts a photograph of an engraving by Waterman Lily Ormsby of a medal by Charles Cushing Wright, titled “Major General Zachary Taylor, Resolution of Congress, March 9, 1848. The picture shows a profile likeness of Zachary Taylor, bordered by ornate filigree and leaf branches. Zachary Taylor was the 12th president of the United States, serving from his election in 1849 until the time of his death in 1850. He was a military figure, prominently known for his victories during the Mexican-American War, where he had risen to the rank of a major general. The medal was captures that legacy within detailed depictions of a battlefield on the back. “It features an incredibly ornate battle scene encircled with two intertwining snakes. The engraving is intricately detailed with literally hundreds of soldiers, each individually sculpted and many holding long guns with bayonets. Even the tiny American flags are complete with stars and stripes.” (NGC).
Waterman Lily Ormsby was a nineteenth century American engraver. He would found the Continental Bank Note Company during the height of his active dates, a contract manufacturing company that performs services of authentication, secure payments, and account access. He had many inventions, including a pantographic engraving machine, which produced a “roll-die” engraving on metal plates, as well as the grammagraph, which could be used to mimic medals onto bank notes to grant them a bas-relief illusion.
Charles Cushing Wright was a nineteenth century engraver and medalist. He would later become a founding member of the National Academy of Design in 1825 with Samuel Morse, Asher Brown Durand, and other contemporaries. His style would go on to procure him the title of the “First American Medalist” (NGC).
This item was originally found in the McClintock Family Series I, within item 1.43 Item 44A-H: A Book of Correspondence from Mary A. Benjamin to Gilbert McClintock, 1958 June 24-26.
Location:
New York
Source
- McClintock, Gilbert Stuart, 1886-1959 (Person)
- Benjamin, Mary A, 1906-1991 (Person)
Creator
- Ormsby, Waterman Lily, 1809-1883 (Person)
- Wright, Charles Cushing, 1796-1857 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu