First Bank of the United States, Philadelphia (1859): Art, History and Details

First Bank of the United States, Philadelphia (1859) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Frederick DeBourg Richards (American, 1822–1903).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Frederick DeBourg Richards, who was trained as a painter, was an accomplished Philadelphia photographer. His notoriety for complex architectural compositions was beautifully realized in this oblique, elevated view of the First Bank of the United States in Philadelphia. This warm-toned photograph, rich with detail, is a rare example of early cityscape photography. Designed by Samuel Blodgett with Joseph P. LeGrand, the bank resembles a marble mansion. Completed in 1797, it was probably the first building with a classic façade of marble to be erected in the United States. Indeed, the animated street life that Richards included was unusual for this period of photography.

Object facts

• Title: First Bank of the United States, Philadelphia
• Date: 1859
• Creator attribution: Frederick DeBourg Richards (American, 1822–1903)
• Culture: America
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: salted paper print from wet collodion negative
• Dimensions: Image: 20.4 x 15.5 cm (8 1/16 x 6 1/8 in.); Paper: 22.3 x 16.4 cm (8 3/4 x 6 7/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
• Collection: PH - American 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2002.41

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.