History of the Seal of the City of Philadelphia
Philadelphia City Seal Raised Relief Sculpture
...the only one of its kind in the world!
About the Sculpture
The ArtLink project to create this sculpture began in 1995 with research of the history of the city seal. Precise design and color images of the seal were then obtained from the City of Philadelphia and sent to David Cook in the UK, one of England's leading paper sculptors, where exact colors of the seal were matched and manufactured by Chromacolour, London, UK.
Sculpture crafted with Bockingford 140 lb and 230 lb watercolor papers
Showcase built in Philadelphia by antiques restoration specialist, Nigel Taylor
Sculpture Image 36" diameter
Showcase 48" W X 48" L X 6" D
Showcase colors matched to 19th century color swatches by Benjamin Moore, Philadelphia.
Inner showcase and mounting board color
Outer showcase color
Sculpture atop the 'Rocky' steps at the Philadelphia Musum of Art
History of the Seal Of The City Of Philadelphia
The Seal Of The City Of Philadelphia was selected and adopted by Common Councils of the city on February 14, 1874, and has since prevailed as the seal still used today.
The history of the seal goes back to 1683, when William Penn declared himself the Proprietor and Governor of the city. Not an unreasonable claim at that time, since Penn opted to take land rather than cash from Charles II as repayment for investments owed to his deceased father - about 42,000 square miles west of New Jersey.
Before the seal as we know it today was adopted, its design changed several times, in 1683, 1701, 1789 and 1874.
Following the Charter of 1701, a new seal was designed - a quartered shield showing clasped hands in the upper left-hand quarter, a sheaf of wheat in upper right, balanced scales in lower left, and a full rigged ship in lower right. This seal design remained in use until 1789.
By 1789, the Revoluntion changed the status everything and a new seal was adopted. The shield in the center was divided into three horizontal compartments - the upper containing a plow with bare hand at one end, an imageless panel in the middle, and a ship in full sail in the lower. Beneath the shield the date 1789 in Roman numerals. Around the outer edge the words "The Seal Of The City Of Philadelphia."
This was the most artistically designed seal the city ever possessed, and was in use until after the Consolidation of the city in 1854. The concept for the design of this seal was taken from a painting entitled "Arms of the City of Philadelphia" by a famous painter of the time, Thomas Sully, and remains the basis for the city seal used today.
"Arms of the City of Philadelphia" painted by Thomas Sully (1783-1872)
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