Painting
- Title:
- Tip Top Mt. Washington
- Object Name:
- Painting
- Object ID:
- 2011.036
- Creator:
- Crocker, John Denison (1822-1907)
- Date:
- 1856
- Description:
- Painting. Summit of Mount Washington, attributed to John Denison Crocker (1822-1907), 1856. Oil on paper on cardboard. View of two summit buildings and observation tower. Stone building on left (Tip-Top House) with flat roof; people standing on roof; lettering over entrance: "TIP TOP HOUSE". Stone building on right (Summit House), at lower elevation, with pitched roof; people and horses in front. Smoke rising from chimneys on both buildings. Wooden observation tower in center, on highest point of summit; people on observation deck; large American flag flying on top. People and dog in foreground; a woman is seated on a stool; a man is kneeling, using hammer and chisel on a rock. Pencil inscription by John H. Spaulding on reverse: "Tip top Mt. Washington - / taken or painted in 1856 by one / Mr. Crocker. This picture represents / the Tip top House on the left hand as / built and used by S. F. & J. H. Spaulding / also the Summit House as built by J. S. / Hall and L. Rosbrook. / Summit House built in 1852 / Tip top " " 1853. / The observatory showed by the picture / was erected in 1856 by Timothy Eaton at / a cost of $500, I bo[u]ght it in company / with J. S. Hall in 1857 for 30. It / proved a failure as most people felt / that they were high enough without being carried / any higher by risk of machinery breaking. / J. H. S."
- Material:
- Paper
- Dimensions:
- H-7 W-10.2 inches
- Provenance:
- Commissioned by John Hubbard Spaulding (1821-1893) of Lancaster, NH, builder and owner of the Tip-Top House. Descended in the family to the donors.
- Credit Line:
- Gift of Martha Abbott Hill and Bartlett Cushman Hill, Descendants of John Hubbard Spaulding
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