Object Details
- graphic artist
- Pennell, Joseph
- Description
- Joseph Pennell’s etching of the Water Street Stairs is one of several prints showing old Philadelphia streets and buildings that he made in 1881. Some of these appeared in the Century Magazine in 1882 with an article written by Elizabeth Robins, who would become Pennell’s wife.
- In his autobiography Pennell noted with pride that as a child of about five he could write text backwards and forwards in a drawing. He demonstrates that skill here. He painstakingly etched the text of the many posters and signs backwards so it would read correctly in the print. But at center left he etched the name of the theater to read backward, perhaps from a quirky sense of humor.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
- nineteenth century
- ID Number
- GA.14230
- accession number
- 94830
- catalog number
- 14230
- Object Name
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- ink (overall material)
- Measurements
- image: 25 cm x 19 cm; 9 13/16 in x 7 1/2 in
- sheet: 35 cm x 25.5 cm; 13 3/4 in x 10 1/16 in
- Associated Place
- United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
- Ferris Collection
- Communications
- Art
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1001495
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a8-85b1-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
