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Eagle

William Rush American
1809–11
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 748
This monumental eagle, of fluid and energetic form, was commissioned in 1809 by Saint John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia for its new building. The bird’s open beak contains a red-painted iron tongue, from which a long chain was suspended to support the sounding board above the pulpit. In 1847 the sculpture was removed from Saint John’s and installed in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall, where it remained until 1914. In that location, near the Liberty Bell and Rush’s 1815 carved wood statue of George Washington, its symbolism changed; once an attribute of the church’s patron saint, it metamorphosed into an emblem of national pride.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Eagle
  • Artist: William Rush (1756–1833)
  • Date: 1809–11
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Carved wood (probably Eastern white pine), gessoed and gilded, and cast iron, painted
  • Dimensions: 36 x 68 x 61 in. (91.4 x 172.7 x 154.9 cm)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Sansbury-Mills Fund, and Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang, Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Goelet, Annette de la Renta, and Vira Hladun-Goldmann Gifts, 2002
  • Object Number: 2002.21.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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3802. Eagle

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Eagle, Wilhelm Schimmel American, White pine, painted, American
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Chest-on-chest, Thomas Affleck American, Mahogany, mahogany veneer, white cedar,<br/>yellow pine, tulip poplar, American
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