Arms of the City of New York

Born in London to a successful artistic family, John Rubens Smith worked in his father’s mezzotint engraving studio and attended the Royal Academy, where he was a regular exhibitor from 1788 to 1799. In 1806, armed with letters of introduction from Benjamin West and Washington Allston, Smith set out for the Unites States, first settling in Boston, where he established an academy of drawing and painting. He moved on to New York City, in 1814, where he pursued a career as an important artist and educator.





This watercolor is a sketch for a banner that Smith created for the 1815 New York celebration of peace, following the War of 1812. The New York Peace Society, formed in 1815 by David Low Dodge, a New York merchant, is thought to be the first pacifist organization in the United States. In this work, Smith created a free rendering of the Seal of the City of New York. At left is the figure of a Native American, representing the first inhabitants of Manhahtaan (Manhattan) in Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland. He is shown holding a long rifle, a tomahawk and a power horn, with a large sail in the background. His left foot rests on a quiver with arrows. At right is the figure of a sailor, holding a sextant, with an American flag in the background, which represents the port of New York.. He sits on a large cannon. In the center is the oval seal of the city of New York, which includes a beaver at top and bottom representing the early fur trading economy, a windmill in the center, representing the Dutch roots of New York, and two flanking barrels of flour, that symbolize New York as a prime exporter of flour. Sheaves of wheat flank the left and right sides of the seal and a large eagle, emblem of the United States, looms above.