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Object Timeline

-0001

1997

  • We acquired this object.

1998

2025

  • You found it!

Drawing, Elevation of the Maritime Fountain, for the Place de la Concorde, Paris

This is a Drawing. It was designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff. It is dated 1839 and we acquired it in 1997. Its medium is pen and black ink, brush and watercolor, highlighted with white gouache on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

When the viceroy of Egypt offered an ancient obelisque as a gift to France in 1831, the designer Jakob Ignaz Hittorff designed a square with two fountains to frame the monument. The iconographical subtext of the Place de la Concorde celebrates France's triumphs in industry, commerce and engineering. This presentation drawing of the Maritime fountain is dedicated to Le Comte de Rambuteau, who was a major figure in organizing the water supply systems of Paris.

It is credited Museum purchase from Sarah Cooper-Hewitt and Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Funds and through gift of Lucy Work Hewitt.

  • Textile (USA)
  • rayon, silk.
  • Museum purchase from Pauline Cooper Noyes Fund.
  • 1990-165-1

Its dimensions are

98.9 x 127.6 cm (38 15/16 x 50 1/4 in.)

It is inscribed

Inscribed in pen black ink, lower left: J.J. HITTORFF, Arch.t.; lower margin, center: ELEVATION D'UNE DES DEUX FONTAINES DE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE EXECUTEES A PARIS EN 1839/SOUS L'ADMINISTRATION DE MONSIEUR LE COMTE DE RAMBUTEAU, PREFET DE LA SEINE

Cite this object as

Drawing, Elevation of the Maritime Fountain, for the Place de la Concorde, Paris; Designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff (German, 1792–1867); France; pen and black ink, brush and watercolor, highlighted with white gouache on paper; 98.9 x 127.6 cm (38 15/16 x 50 1/4 in.) ; Museum purchase from Sarah Cooper-Hewitt and Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Funds and through gift of Lucy Work Hewitt; 1997-1-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Fountains, Splash and Spectacle.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18654481/ |title=Drawing, Elevation of the Maritime Fountain, for the Place de la Concorde, Paris |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=5 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>