Mulberry Bend Drinking Fountain

Location: Lower Manhattan, New York, USA

In the late 19^th century, a region of Manhattan where five streets intersected was known as Five Points. This incorporated Mulberry Bend, an expanse of slums and alleys where poverty, disease and crime was rife. It was ranked as one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world. Persistent documentation of the deplorable conditions over many years by Danish photojournalist Jacob Riis succeeded in the eventual removal of the slums. From the New York Times May 1, 1949,…after some twenty-seven years of grinding effort, Riis was directly or indirectly responsible for cleaning up that civic boil and other centers of human degradation.

Calvert Vaux, a co-designer of Central Park, was hired by the city to design a green space known as Mulberry Bend Park. Also known as Five Points Park it opened in 1897 and incorporated several drinking fountains. In 1911 it was renamed Columbus Park inspired by the Italian population. The surrounding area is now known as Chinatown.

Design details are similar to E.T. Barnum Company of Detroit who sourced their products from J.W. Fiske & Company. There are also similarities to drinking fountains offered by J.L. Mott Iron Works Company; however, the manufacturer is unknown.

The structure was a highly decorated circular pillar with decorative relief. A lion mascaron spouted water into a small basin for use by humans, and a tin cup was originally affixed with a chain. The structure terminated in a finial resembling an acorn or it may have been a pineapple which was a symbol of hospitality.

Circa 1905

Circa 1899

Glossary:

• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Mask/Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
• Relief, a sculptural technique to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background

Temperance Fountain

Location: Aberdeen, WA, USA

The ladies of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a driving force in the fight to create an alcohol free society, purchased a large drinking fountain to be donated to the city. It was funded by public subscription and the dedication was attended by a large gathering of citizens on 6 February 1910. Rev. B. P. Brooks invoked the aid of Deity in perpetrating the work of the W.C.T.U. and Councilman for Fifth Ward, C. C. Quackenbush, accepted the gift on behalf of the city council. “The fountain is a fine imitation of bronze and is substantial and artistic in appearance, and will always be an ornament to the city.” Aberdeen Herald, Feb. 7, 1910.

Installed in front of the George J. Wolff department store at the corner of Heron and H Streets it was later relocated to Sam Benn Park at the corner entrance on I Street. The urn finial now rests in the Aberdeen Museum.

The manufacturer of the fountain is unknown although it bears a resemblance to designs by J. L. Mott Iron Works of New York. Seated on a square base the fountain was a multi-level structure. Hosting a small demi-lune basin at ground level water was supplied from the mouth of a lion mascaron for the use of dogs.

A frieze of egg and dart moulding delineated the transition to an angled pier containing a panel on all four sides with bas-relief sculpture of a lion surrounded by flourish. A second frieze offered two demi-lune basins for human use. A spigot supplied water captured using a tin cup suspended on a chain.

A square plinth displaying a bas-relief engraving, W.C.T.U., supported a short pedestal with four inset panels bound by pilasters on each corner. A frieze of flora decorated the capital which supported an elaborately decorated urn capped with a pineapple finial (symbolic of friendship and hospitality).

Glossary

• Bas-relief, sculpted material that has been raised from the background to create a slight projection from the surface
• Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
• Demi-lune, half moon or crescent shape
• Egg and dart, a carving of alternating oval shapes and  dart or arrow shapes
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Flourish, curlicue embellishment
• Frieze, the horizontal part of a classical moulding just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
• Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Pier, a structural support
• Pilaster, a column form that is only ornamental and not supporting a structure
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
• Spigot, a device that controls the flow of liquid

Glanders

Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Located at the intersection of East Chicago Avenue and Michigan Avenue outside the historic Chicago Water Works building, this drinking fountain model was installed by the Illinois Humane Society in the late 19^th century. There were 60 such fountains by 1913 making it the most common design. It featured a faucet facing the sidewalk for people, a trough extending into the street for horses, and a basin for dogs at the base, which was inscribed, Illinois Humane Society.

In the U.S.A., the years 1914 and 1915 saw an epidemic of glanders in several sections of the Atlantic coast states, and many cities closed their existing trough/drinking fountains, as it was believed that the disease was spread by the common use of bowls or troughs. Drivers were asked, or required by ordinance, to carry with each horse-drawn vehicle a pail for watering horses.

The horse disease, glanders, primarily affects horses although it also affects donkeys and mules and can be naturally contracted by other mammals such as goats, dogs, and cats. The bacteria can be transmitted to humans through contact with tissues or the body fluids of infected animals. Those who care for affected animals or handle infected specimens face an increased risk.

In countries where glanders is endemic in animals, prevention of the disease in humans involves identification and elimination of the infection in the animal population. Presently, there is no vaccine available for glanders. Fortunately, there have been no naturally occurring cases reported in the United States since the 1940s.

The Lost Drinking Fountains of Wednesbury

Location: Wednesbury, West Midlands, England

On the 21st June 1887, to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, Brunswick Park (designed by William Barron and Son) was opened by the Mayor Alderman Richard Williams, J.P.

Drawings for a fountain were submitted by George Smith & Co. and Walter MacFarlane & Co. The cast iron canopied drinking fountain selected was number 3 from George Smith & Co.’s Sun Foundry and was 9 feet 10 inches high. The structure consisted of four columns with obelisk finials rising from a two tiered plinth to support a domed canopy. The interior column connectors to the dome were adorned with descending alligators and leafy decoration. Alligators were considered a symbol of evil and were hung from the ceilings of cabinets as a reminder of the mortality of humanity.

Arch faceplates offered a flat surface for inscriptions in raised metal letters: civic virtues such as temperance were extolled on many drinking fountains. Over each arch, cartouches within each lunette offered commemorative dedication or crests; the town’s coat of arms is visible in the photograph.

The solid dome with finial covered the fluted pedestal and wide basin containing a standing putto (design #7) holding an urn from which water flowed.

Glossary:

• Cartouche, a structure or figure, often in the shape of an oval shield or oblong scroll, used as an architectural or graphic ornament or to bear a design or inscription
• Lunette, the half-moon shaped space framed by an arch, often containing a window or painting
• Finial, A sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Fluted, A long rounded groove decorating the shaft of a column
• Obelisk, A tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top
• Plinth, Flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
• Putto, A figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually nude

In Kings Hill Park, a fountain was placed on the footpath atop a three tiered plinth. The 6’ 2” drinking fountain, design number 18, was manufactured by Walter Macfarlane’s Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, Scotland. It had a wide base in the form of a St. Andrew’s cross with canted corners, on which was set a circular shaft ornamented with water lilies. Four lion jambs supported four highly decorated quatrefoil basins. An obelisk with swan and bird relief rose from the center of the basins. A capped urn terminal with four consoles offered drinking cups suspended by chains.

Symbolism was popular in Victorian times. Griffins are symbolic of guardians of priceless possessions; lions are symbolic of guardianship; owls are symbolic of guardians of the afterlife, and eagles represent immortality.

Glossary

• Canted corner, an angled surface which cuts of a corner
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Jamb, a projecting vertical post containing sculpture
• Kylix, a Grecian style drinking cup
• Obelisk, a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top
• Quatrefoil, a type of decorative framework consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal

During World War II these cast iron structures, in addition to railings and the cannons from the mount, were removed to recycle metal as a way of assisting in the war effort.